Washington Post:
Obama arrives in Riyadh, gets blast from bin Laden
By Ross Colvin and Ulf Laessing
Reuters Wednesday, June 3, 2009; 8:45 AM
RIYADH (Reuters) - President Barack Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah on Wednesday on the eve of a much-anticipated speech in Cairo the U.S. leader hopes will help repair America's damaged image in the Islamic world.
After an airport welcome in Riyadh, Obama traveled to King Abdullah's farm where the two men were to hold talks expected to cover the Arab-Israeli conflict, U.S. overtures to Iran and oil.
Shortly after Obama arrived Al Jazeera television aired a recording by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in which he said the U.S. president had planted seeds for "revenge and hatred" toward the United States in the Muslim world.
Bin Laden said Obama was continuing in the steps of his predecessor George W. Bush and told Americans to be prepared for the consequences of the White House's policies.
Obama, whose father was a Muslim and who lived in Indonesia as a boy, is trying to repair a U.S. image badly damaged by Bush's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the treatment of U.S. military detainees.
He was due to spend the night at the Saudi king's farm before heading on to Cairo for his speech to the Muslim world, which will fulfill a campaign promise last year to deliver an address from a Muslim capital early in his administration.
"I am confident that we're in a moment where in Islamic countries, I think there's a recognition that the path of extremism is not actually going to deliver a better life for people," Obama told NBC News before he left Washington
"I think there's a recognition that simply being anti-American is not going to solve their problems. The steps we're taking now to leave Iraq takes that issue and diffuses it a little bit," he said.
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said earlier the speech was "about resetting our relations with the Muslim world."
Obama cautioned against expecting too much from the speech, which he said was just the first step in opening a broader dialogue with the Muslim world.
"After all, one speech is not going to transform very real policy differences and some very difficult issues surrounding the Middle East and the relationship between Islam and the west," Obama said.
Washington hopes Saudi Arabia will play a moderating role in OPEC against price hawks such as Iran after oil prices hit a seventh-month high, threatening prospects of global economic recovery.
Saudi Arabia and the United States have a near 60-year-old relationship based on guaranteeing oil supplies in return for U.S. protection for the Saudi monarchy.
Obama has said he would discuss oil prices with King Abdullah and would argue that price spikes are not in Saudi interests.
Update: more from MSNBC:
CAIRO - Osama bin Laden has threatened Americans in a new audio tape, saying President Barack Obama inflamed hatred toward the U.S. by ordering Pakistan to crack down on militants in Swat Valley and block Islamic law in the area.
Bin Laden claimed U.S. pressure led to a campaign of "killing, fighting, bombing and destruction" that prompted the exodus of a million Muslims from Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan. . .
'Revenge'
Bin Laden said Obama had ordered Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to stop people in the Swat Valley from practicing Islamic law.
"This means simply that Obama and his administration planted new seeds for hatred and revenge against America," bin Laden said. "With that Obama has followed the same footsteps as the last president to create more hatred against Muslims.
"Let Americans prepare to reap what the leaders of the White house sow."
The battle for Swat is seen by Washington as a test of Pakistan's resolve against militants in the northwestern border region with Afghanistan.
The United States strongly backs the campaign, and it has enjoyed broad support among Pakistanis tired of militant attacks in the country that have killed hundreds of civilians.
Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Wednesday that it was "ludicrous" to suggest that anyone but al-Qaida and the Taliban are responsible for the refugee crisis in Pakistan.
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