Obama accuses Clinton of ‘dirty tricks’

Did members of Hillary Clinton's campaign team circulate a photo of Barack Obama dressed in tribal robes on a trip to Kenya in 2006, in an effort to feed into the false rumour that the Democratic contender is a Muslim? The Obama camp is convinced the appearance of the photo on the political gossip site, The Drudge Report, is the result of dirty tricks on Clinton's side.

The Clinton camp is adamant it has nothing to do with it. "I just want to make it very clear that we were not aware of it, the campaign didn't sanction it and don't know anything about it," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson told reporters.

David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, claims the Clinton team has resorted to smear tactics after losing 11 primaries in a row to their rival. He described the appearance of the photo as "the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election". Obama has spent much of the campaign emphasising he is a Christian not a Muslim.

However the photo appeared on Drudge, it got there with just a week to go before the crucial primaries in Texas and Ohio. If Clinton loses either of them, her bid for the Democratic nomination could be over.