Kenyan: Garb Obama wore just cultural

NAIROBI, Kenya -- A Kenyan elder who presented Barack Obama with a traditional outfit that fueled false rumors he was Muslim says the garb was cultural, not religious -- and that had President Bush visited he could have "dressed him the same."

Pictures of the Democratic presidential candidate wearing the robe and turban over his Western-style clothing spread on the Internet.

The gossip and news Web site The Drudge Report said the photo was circulated by the campaign of Obama rival Hillary Rodham Clinton. But Clinton aides said the campaign had never sanctioned its distribution.

Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ and says he has never been a Muslim.

His late father was from western Kenya, and Obama visited the country in 2006, attracting thousands of well-wishers. He was presented the white turban and wraparound white robe by a group of elders in northeastern Kenya, including Mohammed Hassan Mumin.

Mumin told a Kenyan newspaper in remarks published Saturday that he had presented gifts of similar clothing to several other leaders.

If Bush came, "I could have dressed him the same as Barack Obama," Mumin told Kenya's independent daily The Nation.

In recent weeks, two volunteers on the Clinton campaign have had to resign after circulating e-mails falsely saying Obama was a Muslim and a threat to national security.

Obama's grandmother has said that her late son was a Christian. Last month, Obama said his grandfather had converted to Christianity and then converted to Islam. "My father never practiced; he was basically agnostic," Obama said.

On Friday, a senior Obama aide resigned after calling Clinton a "monster" who "is stooping to anything" to get elected. Both campaigns disowned their supporters' remarks.