Al-Qaida issues booby trap warning to Bush

“Now we direct an urgent call to our militant brothers in Muslim Palestine and the Arab peninsula… to be ready to receive the Crusader-slayer Bush in his visit to Muslim Palestine and the Arab peninsula in the beginning of January and to receive him not with flowers or clapping but with bombs and booby-trapped vehicles,” Mr Gadahn said in Arabic.

President Bush is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday for a week-long regional trip that will also bring him to the West Bank, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Most of the 50-minute long video, titled An Invitation To Reflection and Repentance, appeared to be aimed at ordinary Americans, with Mr Gadahn saying al Qaida felt the need to release the statement after Washington’s “defeat” in Iraq and Afghanistan and failed attempts by President Bush and other diplomats to bring peace to the Middle East.

“We felt it necessary to address the American people and explain to them some of the facts about these critical and fast-moving events,” said the California-born Mr Gadahn, who wore a white and red headscarf.

“The first questions Americans might ask is has America really been defeated? The answer is yes and on all fronts,” he said while sitting behind a desk with a coffee cup and laptop computer nearby.

The video could not immediately be independently verified, but it appeared on a website often used by Islamic militants and carried the logo of al-Qaida’s media wing, al-Sahab.

At the beginning of the video, the date December 2007 was displayed, and Mr Gadahn mentioned Robert Hawkins, who killed eight people at a shopping centre in Omaha, Nebraska on December 5, suggesting the tape was made sometime after then.

Mr Gadahn, also known as Azzam al-Amriki, was charged with treason in the US in 2006 and has been wanted since 2004 by the FBI, which is offering a one million dollar reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.

He has appeared in several al-Qaida videos including most recently in August when he threatened new attacks on foreign embassies. In May, al-Qaida released another video featuring Mr Gadahn, who warned President Bush to end US involvement in Muslim lands or face an attack worse than 9-11.

In his latest video statement, Mr Gadahn lashed out repeatedly at the United States for its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and close ties to Israel and the leaders of some Muslim countries, including Egypt and Pakistan, which he described as some of the “worst dictators and tyrants.”

Mr Gadahn also criticised Christianity, which he called “baseless and doubt-filled,” and urged Americans – including soldiers who fought in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan – to convert to Islam.

“Listen to me, and listen to me carefully, before you lose your mind to flashbacks, and drugs and drink induced dementia and before your demons drive you to self destruction and suicide, in these verses (in the Koran), God calls out to each and every one of you saying God forgives all sins... if you simply stop and repent,” he said.

At one point in the video, Gadahn took out his US passport, showed it to the camera and tore it into several pieces.

“In symbolic rejection of the American citizenship that honourable and decent and compassionate people are ashamed to carry, I will now proceed to destroy my American passport,” he said.

“But don’t get too excited, I don’t need it to travel anyway,” he added with a smile after tearing it apart.

Mr Gadahn is the first American to be charged with treason in more than 50 years and could face the death penalty if convicted. He also was indicted on a charge of providing material support to terrorists.

Earlier this month, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the agency would review the latest tape for intelligence value and vowed never to give up the hunt for Gadahn.