Bin Laden and Al Qaeda number one threat to US: Obama

The US President-elect, Barack Obama, has said Al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden, the most wanted terrorists of the world, are the number one threat to the United States of America.

"I haven't changed my mind, that bin Laden and Al Qaida are our number one threat when it comes to American security," Obama told reporters yesterday after a new voice recording emerged from the terror group's leader warning the president-elect of new fronts in bin Laden's self-styled holy war against Western interests.

The 22-minute audio recording, which the US-based Site Intelligence Group said it believes is authentic, was the first commentary from the Al-Qaeda leader in last eight months.

Obama was addressing a joint press conference with his Vice President-elect, Joe Biden, along with the Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham. Both Graham and Biden returned on Tuesday from a visit to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

Obama emphasised on adopting a regional approach in resolving the Afghanistan problem, so did Biden.

"As Joe (Biden) indicated, we have to take a regional approach. We're not going to solve the problem just in Afghanistan; we're going to have address issues in Pakistan as well," Obama said adding that he would have more to say on this issue after being sworn in on January 20th.

His administration, working in concert with Congress, with Republicans and with the American people, Obama said: "We're going to do everything in our power to make sure that they cannot create safe havens they can attack America. That's the bottom line."