Al-Qaeda message condemns Obama

The second-in-command of Islamic militant network al-Qaeda has hit out at US President-elect Barack Obama.

In a message purportedly from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda deputy called Mr Obama a "house slave" - a demeaning term implying he served white people.

Mr Obama's plan to bolster the US military presence in Afghanistan would fail, Zawahiri said.

And his election did not mean that US policy towards the Muslim world had changed, he added.

The audio message, which ran with photographic stills and some video footage, appeared on militant websites.

Zawahiri, an Egyptian by birth, is often referred to as Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man and the chief ideologue of al-Qaeda.

'Same as always'

In the 11-minute message he warned Mr Obama of failure if he followed Bush administration policies in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

His poll win did not mean that America should be perceived differently, he said.

"America has put on a new face, but its heart full of hate, mind drowning in greed, and spirit which spreads evil, murder, repression and despotism continue to be the same as always," he said.

The US was the same as ever, he said, so "we must continue to harm it in order for it to come to its senses".

Zawahiri also criticised Mr Obama - whose father is Muslim - for abandoning his Islamic roots.

"You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand with the enemies of Muslims," he said.

Mr Obama was not an "honourable black American" like Malcolm X, he said, but an "abeed al-beit" - a word that translates as house slave but was rendered "house negro" in the message's English subtitles.

The audio was accompanied by footage of a speech by Malcolm X in which he distinguished between "field negroes" who hated their white masters and "house negroes" who, he said, were loyal to them.

On Sunday, in his first television interview since his 4 November election win, Mr Obama reiterated his commitment to shift more US troops to war-torn Afghanistan.

Stamping out al-Qaeda "once and for all" was a top priority, he said, and capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden was "critical" to US security.