Obama slammed for bowing to Saudi King

US president Barack Obama has been embroiled in a controversy after bowing to Saudi King Abdullah at the G20 summit.

Obama's action has been slammed by the US media as well as by politicians who feel that the US president's gesture was unbecoming of the country's head. The Ottawa Citizen daily argued that the American president is supposed to be "a peer of, not subservient to, any foreign potentate".

The Washington Times newspaper has called the incident a "shocking display of fealty to a foriegn potentate". In its editorial, the daily noted: "The bow was an extraordinary protocol violation. Such an act is a traditional obeisance befitting a king's subjects, not his peer. There is no precedent for US presidents bowing to Saudi or any other royals."

The Washington-based paper suggested that Obama is "proving that one can be elected president without knowing how to behave presidentially. In his eagerness to be loved personally, the president has lost sight of the fact that the leader of the free world also must be respected."

But it is not only the US president that is currently making news. The president's dog too has made headlines recently. America's first family introduced their Portuguese water dog named Bo , to the White House press corps on the south lawn of the White House on Apr 14. The six-month-old puppy is a gift from Senator Edward Kennedy who owns several of the dogs himself.

In humour, some media have already labelled 'the first dog'as "Bo-bama".

ALSO SEE: The president's new dog

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