As President Obama begins goodwill tour of Islamic countries, Osama bin Laden makes new audio threat
BY Michael Saul
DAILY NEWS POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
Terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden reportedly issued a threatening statement against the United States Wednesday, shortly after President Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia on a trip aimed at improving relations between the United States and the Muslim world.
Al Jazeera, the Arabic television network, broadcast a statement reportedly from bin Laden in which he accuses Obama of continuing in the steps of former President George W. Bush.
Bin Laden said Obama and his administration "have planted seeds for hatred and revenge against America," according to a Reuters translation.
The tape was broadcast shorly after Obama arrived.
On Wednesday afternoon local time, Obama landed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and participated in an arrival ceremony at the airport. Later, the president is scheduled to attend a welcome reception with King Abdullah at the king's farm.
Obama will fulfill a campaign promise when he travels to Cairo on Thursday to speak in a major Muslim capital. The President hopes to repair relations between the United States and the followers of Islam in the wake of intense anger from the policies of his predecessor.
Obama's father was a Muslim and, as a child, the president lived briefly in Indonesia.
"I think that we want to do is open a dialogue," Obama said in an interview with the BBC prior to his departure. "This (is) an opportunity for us to get both sides to listen to each other a little bit more, and hopefully learn something about different cultures."
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