US al-Qaeda man in threat to Bush

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A US-born al-Qaeda member has called for a bombing campaign in the Middle East to mark US President George W Bush's visit this week.

Adam Gadahn, who is wanted for treason by the FBI, called in an internet video for Mr Bush to be met by "bombs and booby-trapped vehicles".

He also symbolically ripped up what appeared to be his own US passport.

The White House dismissed the video as evidence al-Qaeda offered "nothing but death and violence".

Mr Bush is about to embark on a week-long visit to Israel and key US allies in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

It will be his first visit to the region since becoming president.

'Symbolic rejection'

Mr Gadahn, 29, is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, wanted since 2004 by the FBI which is offering a $1m reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.

Mr Gadahn grew up on a goat farm near Los Angeles

He was charged with treason in 2006.

In the video, which is about 50 minutes long, he calls for Muslims to "receive [Bush] not with flowers or clapping, but with bombs and booby-trapped vehicles".

Speaking mostly in English, Mr Gadahn insisted America had been defeated "on all fronts".

He condemned the leaders of US allies Egypt and Pakistan as some of the "worst dictators and tyrants", and attacked the Christian religion as "baseless".

Producing the passport, he said he was destroying it "in symbolic rejection of the American citizenship that honourable and decent and compassionate people are ashamed to carry".

Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for President Bush's National Security Council, said Mr Gadahn's passport was already void.

"The purpose of President Bush's trip is to meet with mainstream Arab leaders and people to talk about a positive future for the region, based on hope and opportunity," he added.