U.S. Muslims denounce al-Qaida insult

NEW YORK, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. Muslim leaders say racially charged statements issued by al-Qaida against U.S. President-elect Barack Obama are "an insult."

Spiritual leaders of New York City's black Muslim community have denounced an anti-Obama diatribe issued by al-Qaida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri, in which he said Obama fit the late Malcolm X's definition of a "house Negro," CNN reported Saturday.

"We find it insulting when anyone speaks for our community instead of giving us the dignity and the honor of speaking for ourselves," the Muslim leaders said in a statement read during a news conference at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial, Educational and Cultural Center in New York Friday.

Zawahiri's 11-minute audio message denounced Obama and other African-American U.S. leaders such as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and former secretary Colin Powell for not being enough like 1960s Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X, who used the term "house Negro" to insult blacks who catered to white people.

Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965 after leaving the Nation of Islam movement two years earlier, although he remained a devout Muslim.

"As Muslims and as Americans, we will never let terrorist groups or terror leaders falsely claim to represent us or our faith," the Council on American-Islamic Relations told CNN.