5178: Cash, Credit Or Livestock?

From The New York Post…

MOO-LAH!
KENYANS TELL HILL: PAY US IN COWS FOR OBAMA INSULT

By GEOFF EARLE, Post Correspondent

WASHINGTON - Furious Kenyan tribal elders said yesterday that they may slap Hillary Rodham Clinton with a fine for her campaign’s alleged role in publicizing photos of Barack Obama wearing a turban - and it must be paid in cows, goats or camels.

The elders, steaming over the Obama photo smear on the other side of the world, announced plans to convene a traditional tribal court to deal with the matter.

The court could require Clinton to pay a fine in livestock, which is of great value in the far-flung Wazir region of Kenya. The photos were taken there during a visit by Obama, whose father was born in the area.

“We will go ahead with this case whether Sen. Clinton or Democratic Party leaders turn up or not,” Mohamed Ibrahim, a member of the clan that hosted Obama during his 2006 trip to the country, told Reuters.

“This whole thing can be avoided only if an apology is made,” he added.

But Clinton knows her cows - she recently suggested in Texas that Obama was “all hat and no cattle,” and has made a mint investing in cattle futures in Arkansas.

The elders earlier this week called on Clinton to “clear her name” in the controversy.

The photos of Obama - wearing a turban and white tribal robes that are traditional in northern Kenya and Somalia - got worldwide attention after the Drudge Report posted them on the Web, along with a report that said the pics came from Clinton staffers.

Obama has battled a whisper campaign by those who wrongly say he is Muslim, and his aides accused Clinton's campaign of “the most shameful, offensive fearmongering” after the photographs were published.

Hussein Ali, a 32-year-old unemployed man outside Jamia Mosque in the capital Nairobi, told Reuters: “Obama’s enemies are trying to portray him as a terrorist, saying all Muslims, and especially Somalis, are dangerous men.”

Clinton has said she has no idea who is responsible, but would fire anyone on her staff if they were involved.

Kefa Otiso, a Kenya expert at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, said the use of the photos for political purposes is a sensitive subject because it mocks the generosity of the tribal leaders, who were honoring Obama by dressing him in the clothing of a clan elder.

Although a fine paid in goats or cattle seems unusual here, “this is actually for them very, very significant,” Otiso said. “It is a serious penalty.”

He said the matter, if unresolved, could undermine US efforts to build good will in the region - which is key to the war on terror.

The elders also plan to file a formal complaint with the US Embassy in Nairobi.

The Clinton campaign didn’t respond to questions.