SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento County Republican Party removed images from its official Web site that compared Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and urged people to “Waterboard Barack Obama,” after state GOP leaders complained about the content.

The Sacramento Bee today posted an image it said was captured from the Web site that showed Obama in a turban next to bin Laden. It said: “The difference between Osama and Obama is just a little B.S.”

State Republican Party spokesman Hector Barajas said the party asked Sacramento GOP officials to remove the offensive material on Tuesday.

“I indicated that this campaign is a campaign about the issues. Barack Obama is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian, and that’s been put forth by Sen. John McCain,” Barajas said.

County Republican chairman Craig MacGlashan did not immediately respond to a telephone message left at his law office by The Associated Press today. A home phone listing was no longer in service.

By today, the images of Obama juxtaposed with the terrorist who is believed to be the mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks were replaced with cartoon images of the Illinois senator and an altered photo of Obama with the headline “Progressive-Equally-Scary-Commie???”

“Ridiculous and baseless attacks like this won’t work, and will actually remind voters that bin Laden is still out there because of the failed Bush-McCain policy that took our eye off of bin Laden to invade a country that had nothing to do with 9/11,” said Brian Brokaw, a spokesman for the California Democratic party.

Barajas denied that McCain has fueled such comparisons to terrorists by accusing Obama of lying about his association with 1960s radical William Ayers, a founder of the violent anti-war group Weather Underground. Now a professor in Chicago, Ayers hosted a meet-the-candidate session at his home for Obama as he prepared to run for the Illinois Senate. Later, the two worked with the same charity and social-service organizations in Chicago.

“No one’s saying that Barack Obama wants to do harm to this country or is a terrorist, but since we have no legislation to go on for his record … the question does become a question of judgment,” Barajas said.

A spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denounced the offensive images originally posted on the county party Web site.

“This type of material, in the governor’s view, is completely and totally inappropriate,” spokeswoman Julie Soderlund said.

MacGlashan, the county party chairman, is married to Sacramento County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan. He told The Bee in a story published today that he knew what was on the Web site.

“Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things.” He had told The Bee he would “consider people’s complaints” before taking any action.

The county party site also features a prominent banner ad and photo of Rep. Dan Lungren. A campaign official did not immediately respond to a telephone message from The AP today.

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On the Net:

Sacramento County Republican Party: www.sacramentorepublicans.org