New York: Barack Obama's efforts to shift attention away from the fiery remarks of his former pastor were set back yesterday with the broadcast of an interview in which the preacher says his quotes condemning America were taken out of context by people "for some very devious reasons".

"To put an element of fear and hatred and to stir up the anxiety of Americans who still don t know the African-American church, know nothing about the prophetic theology of the African-American experience, who don t even know how we got a black church," the Rev Jeremiah Wright said yesterday night.

The PBS television interview hung over Obama, the front-runner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, as he campaigned today in Indiana, trying to bounce back from a defeat in Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary.

His rival, Hillary Clinton, also on the campaign trail in Indiana today, has argued that she is better positioned and more experienced to withstand bare-knuckle Republican attacks ahead of the November presidential election. Her supporters have pointed to Obama's relationship with Wright as a sure target of Republican criticism, which has already begun.

Last month, Obama made a well-received speech on racism in America in a bid to defuse the attention given to Wright, who has said in sermons that America brought the September 11, 2001,terror attacks on itself and is "damned" by God for its history of slavery and racism.

But the issue has not gone away. Republicans in North Carolina, which holds its primary May 6,have already begun airing television ads featuring Wright in an attempt to taint the state's Democratic gubernatorial candidates because of their support for Obama. The ads call Obama "too extreme for North Carolina".

Source : PTI