Al-Qaeda rattled by Obama

US experts say an Al-Qaeda message condemning new President-elect Barack Obama is a sign the terror network is in panic.

Yesterday, Al-Qaeda’s second in command, Ayman Al-Zawahri urged Muslims to continue attacks on what he called ‘Criminal’ America.

Obama has stated eradicating the terror group remains top of his agenda.

‘‘I think it is a top priority for us to stamp out Al-Qaeda once and for all. And I think capturing or killing bin Laden is a critical aspect of stamping out Al-Qaeda,’‘ said Obama.

While Zawahri slammed Obama for betraying his Islamic roots and supporting Israel, experts are predicting little change in policy when Obama takes office.

“Given that President elect Obama has stated his commitment to go after Al-Qaeda, there might not be too much of a difference. Maybe Barack Obama may be more discreet than President Bush right now, but at least in terms of nuts and bolts polices it might actually continue,’‘ said Malou Innocent from the Cato Institute.

One of Obama’s key pledges on taking up office has been to withdraw US troops from Iraq as quickly as possible and redeploy them to Afghanistan to help fight terrorism.

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tags: Ayman al-Zawahiri, Terrorism, USA