U.S. President Barack Obama was greeted with full "red carpet" honors by Saudi Arabian government officials upon his arrival in the capital of Riyadh Wednesday afternoon, but international terrorist Osama bin Laden was less than pleased with his presence in the region.
The Saudi National Guard stood at fierce attention, and a 21-gun salute was fired in a "Hail to the Chief" after Obama stepped down from Air Force One. A band played the national anthem of both nations.
King Abdullah and the president relaxed in gilded chairs over small ritual-sized cups of fragrant black Arabic coffee laced with cardamom, a favorite Middle Eastern spice.
Talks were not scheduled to begin until later.
Bin Laden issues 'welcome'
However, the international Al Qaeda terrorist chief greeted the American president with an acerbic harangue recorded on an audio tape and broadcast over the Arabic-language satellite television network Al Jazeera soon after Obama's plane touched down.
"Obama and his administration have planted seeds for hatred and revenge against America," warned bin Laden, adding that Americans would reap the consequences of their president's anti-Muslim policies.
"He has followed the steps of his predecessor in antagonizing Muslims… and laying the foundation for long wars," bin Laden continued. "Let the American people prepare to harvest the crops of what the leaders of the White House plant in the next years and decades."
A Saudi official dismissed bin Laden's tape, the second such message from the Al Qaeda terrorist organization within the past 24 hours. On Tuesday, bin Laden second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslims to snub Obama, who he said had come to visit the Middle East at the behest of the "torturers of Egypt" and "slaves of America."
Obama is scheduled to deliver his first, much-anticipated Middle East policy speech from Cairo University on Thursday.