State Dpt and White House reax to al Zawahiri comments on Obama
(19 Nov 2008) SHOTLIST US Department of State Television 1. Walk in shot of US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack 2. Reporter cutaway 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean McCormack, US State Department spokesman: "It's just, you know, more despicable comments from a terrorist. And if anybody needed more of a contrast between what the West and the United States stand for, in terms of democracy, and what these terrorists stand for, I don't think you need to go any further than those comments." AP Television 4. Walk in shot of White House Press Secretary Dana Perino 5. Wide of White House press briefing room 6. SOUNDBITE (English) White House Press Secretary Dana Perino "What we have here is more despicable and pathetic comments by al-Qaida terrorists. And in America, we are going to have a smooth transition from one administration to the next, and that will be a period of change in our country. What won't change is our commitment, as a country, to fighting terrorism. And I think that these comments just remind everybody of the kind of people that we're dealing with." 7. Mid of reporter 8. Wide of Perino STORYLINE Officials from the US State Department and the White House on Wednesday condemned a message from Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, which used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama. The message from Ayman al-Zawahri, which was posted on the Internet on Wednesday, described the president-elect in demeaning terms that implied he does the bidding of whites. Al-Zawahri's speech was al-Qaida's first reaction to Obama's election victory - and it suggested the terror network was worried the new American leader could undermine its rallying cry that the United States is an enemy oppressor. The message appeared chiefly aimed at persuading Muslims and Arabs that Obama did not represent a change in US policies. Al-Zawahri said in the message, which appeared on militant Web sites, that Obama was "the direct opposite of honourable black Americans" like Malcolm X, the 1960s African-American rights leader. In al-Qaida's first response to Obama's victory, al-Zawahri also called the president-elect, along with secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, "house negroes." Speaking in Arabic, al-Zawahri uses the term "abeed al-beit," which literally translates as "house slaves." But al-Qaida supplied English subtitles of his speech that included the translation as "house negroes." In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the latest message was just "more despicable comments from a terrorist." The White House echoed these comments. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said, "what we have here is more despicable and pathetic comments by al-Qaida terrorists." She said America was going to have a smooth transition from one administration to the next, "and that will be a period of change in our country." Perino said the US would maintain its "commitment as a country to fighting terrorism." Al-Zawahri said Obama's election has not changed American policies he said are aimed at oppressing Muslims and others. "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," the deputy of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden said. He said Obama's plan to shift troops to Afghanistan is doomed to failure, because Afghans will resist. The authenticity of the message could not be independently confirmed, but the voice resembled that of al-Zawahri in past videos, and it bore the logo of al-Qaida's media arm, Al-Sahab. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
