Washington  - The man regarded as second-in-command of terrorist group al-Qaeda condemned US president-elect Barack Obama Wednesday in the group's first audio message since his election, using racial slurs and calling his victory an "admission of defeat" in Iraq.

Ayman al-Zawahiri said Obama was "the direct opposite of honourable black Americans" like Malcolm X, a controversial figure who preached violence during the US civil rights movement in the 1960s.

"You have reached the position of president, and a heavy legacy of failure and crimes awaits you," al-Zawahiri said in a direct message to Obama, according to a transcript provided by the US-based IntelCenter. "It appears that you continue to be captive to the same criminal American mentality towards the world and towards Muslims."

The audio tape marks al-Qaeda's first mention of Obama. The group did not release any videos ahead of the election and there has been no word from al-Qaeda's leader Osama bin Laden, who is believed to be hiding somewhere along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

In 2004, bin Laden released a video just days before the US election between President George W Bush and Democrat John Kerry. The message is believed by some to have swung the election in Bush's favour by turning US voters' minds back to security issues.

Obama's election was widely celebrated around the world in marked contrast to the widespread unpopularity of Bush. The president-elect promised during the campaign to restore the US' global reputation.

Obama has also vowed to renew the fight against al-Qaeda by sending more troops to Afghanistan. He regularly criticized Bush on the campaign trail for becoming distracted from the war against al- Qaeda by the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Obama will be inaugurated January 20 and his ascendency to the White House will mark the first war-time transition of power in the US since Vietnam. The Obama transition team declined to comment on al-Qaeda's message Wednesday.

Al-Zawahiri said Obama is "destined for failure" in Afghanistan and has chosen a "stance of hostility" towards Muslims owing to his support of Israel. He said Americans' choice to elect a president who advocated a withdrawal from Iraq showed the terrorist group was winning the battle.

"You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand in the ranks of the enemies of the Muslims, and pray the prayer of the Jews, although you claim to be Christian, in order to climb the rungs of leadership in America," al-Zawahiri said.

Obama was born to a Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas. He grew up mostly in Hawaii but spent some of his early years in Indonesia. Obama is of the Christian faith.

Using a racial epithet that refers to African Americans' past subsidiary role to white Americans, al-Zawahiri said Obama followed the line of "House Negroes" that began with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her predecessor Colin Powell. (dpa)