Al-Qaida deputy chief derides Obama speech

Al-Qaida's deputy leader has criticised President Barack Obama's upcoming speech to the Islamic world in Cairo, saying it will not change the "bloody messages" the US military is sending Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Al-Qaida has repeatedly lashed out at Mr Obama since he was elected, a move some analysts believe indicates the terrorist organisation is worried he will be effective in improving the US image in the Muslim world.

Mr Obama has pitched his speech at Cairo University tomorrow as a key part of that process.

"His bloody messages were received and are still being received by Muslims, and they will not be concealed by public relations campaigns or by farcical visits or elegant words," said Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida's number two, in a new audio message posted on militant websites.

Mr Al-Zawahiri said the Egyptian officials who will welcome Mr Obama are US "slaves" and have turned the country into an "international station of torture in America's war on Islam".

He was likely referring to suspected Islamic militants who have been captured by the US and sent to Egypt for interrogation, a process known as rendition.

Mr Al-Zawahiri urged Egyptians to reject Mr Obama when he makes his speech, calling him "that criminal who came seeking, with deception, to obtain what he failed to achieve in the field after the mujahideen ruined the project of the crusader America in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia".

He said Mr Obama's decision to come to Cairo showed the US had not given up its alliances with dictatorial and corrupt Mideast governments.

"It is a clear message that America does not stand with reform and change and other lying American propaganda, but it stands with the continuation of the existing tyrannical, rotten regimes," said Mr al-Zawahiri.