Al-Qaida warns of new attacks deadlier than before

CAIRO - Al-Qaida's U.S.-born spokesman warned President Barack Obama yesterday that the militant group may launch new attacks that would kill more Americans than previous ones.

In a taunting, 24-minute message that dwelled on Obama's setbacks, including the loss of a Massachusetts Senate seat to the Republicans, Adam Gadahn set out al-Qaida's conditions for peace with the United States, including cutting support for Israel and withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.

Gadahn, wearing a white robe and turban, said that comparing the number of dead Muslims "with the relatively small number of Americans we have killed so far, it becomes crystal-clear that we haven't even begun to even the score," he said.

"That's why next time we might not show the restraint and self-control we have shown up until now," he said. Even if al-Qaida was defeated, he claimed "hundreds of millions of Muslims" would still fight the United States.

Al-Qaida offered the same laundry list of demands to President George W. Bush in 2007, including the release of all Muslim prisoners and cutting off aid to Middle East governments.

Besides the usual rhetorical hyperbole, Gadahn's statement was notable for its mocking tone that described Obama as "a devious, evasive and serpentine American president with a Muslim name," and seemed to delight in his setbacks.

"You're no longer the popular man you once were, a year ago or so," he crowed, ascribing his drop in popularity to the escalation of the U.S. wars abroad.

At the time of Obama's election, many analysts said al-Qaida was worried that his race and Muslim family connections would make him more appealing to Muslims and Arabs who had been angry about Bush's foreign policy.

In its statements since his election, al-Qaida has taken pains to show the continuity between Obama's foreign policy and that of his predecessor.

Gadahn has been wanted by the FBI for treason since 2004, with a $1-million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. He is also known as Azzam al-Amriki, Arabic for "the American."