You’ll never confuse Egyptian pop singer Sha’ban Abd Al-Rahim with Bob Dylan; his past Arabic hit songs have included golden oldies like “I Hate Israel” and “Striking Iraq,” and in his hot new release “Road Map,” currently rocketing up the charts in Cairo and Mecca, he sings that the USA is the perpetrator of the September 11 attacks: “Hey People It was Only a Tower…”

“‘Kharittat Al Tariq’ (Road Map) is the name of the song which gives voice to widespread views in the Egyptian street regarding the September 11th events and the U.S. - Iraq standoff. The song talks about the road map and includes quotes from U.S. President George W. Bush about the plan’s implementation. The song goes on to describe how America is the spitting image of Israel and it carries out its desires, making the world into a ‘jungle.’ But it does not stop at that point. Abd Al-Rahim goes on to boldly sing that the USA is the perpetrator of the September 11th attacks.

“‘Hey people it was only a tower and I swear by God that they are the ones who pulled it down.’ Abd Al-Rahim further sings that they purposely did it to make people think that Arabs and Muslims are terrorists and were behind that disaster. Now the U.S. can do what it pleases to the Arab world since everyone thinks they are to blame.

”The rest of the song includes lines like ‘sometimes he [Bush] says Iran and sometimes he says Syria,’ and ‘he shortens his speech if someone says Korea.’

“The song is written by Abd Al-Rahim’s long-time collaborator, songwriter Islam Khalil, an Arabic teacher at a primary school in Al Qanater in the Al-Qalyoubiya governorate.

An Al-Rahim groupie waxes ecstatic about his idol:

One fan, Muhammad Ibrahim, told the Cairo Times that he knows the lines of the song by heart and he is proud of it. ‘To me, this is the first public and daring accusation made against America concerning the September 11th attacks and the song will soon be the number one hit in the Arab world,’ he said, pointing out that Abd Al-Rahim deserves to be recognized by all as the number one political singer in the Arab world — a reputation he already has on the street.

(Pssst… the US gives Egypt more than $2 billion a year in foreign aid.)