Al-Qaeda Threatens Obama's Grandma

Security increased around Sarah Obama's home
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 12, 2011 9:26 AM CDT
al-Qaeda Threatens President Obama's Grandmother Sarah Obama in Kenya
The step-grandmother of the President of the United States, Sarah Obama, reads the local daily newspaper showing the headlines Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009 at her home in Kogelo, Kisumu, Kenya.   (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

In the wake of Osama bin Laden's death, an African branch of al-Qaeda got personal, threatening President Obama's step-grandmother. Security had already been increased around Sarah Obama's home in Kenya after bin Laden's death, but it was beefed up further after Somalia-based Al Shabaab's threat. The number of police patrolling around the clock is enough "to patrol the entire village," the police chief tells ABC News.

Even so, "my life has not been affected in any way," says the 88-year-old. "It has not restricted my movement. If the government has decided to bring more security personnel, we are OK with it." Other threats have been issued in recent days, including one from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, led by Anwar al-Awlaki. A leader of that group said yesterday that America would come to "wish for the days of Osama." (More al-Qaeda stories.)

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