Audio recording released on the Internet
In a sign that al-Qaeda may be increasingly shifting its gaze to the lawless east African state of Somalia, Osama bin Laden, in an audio recording released on the Internet, has called for the overthrow of the country’s president, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. Ahmed has promised to introduce sharia, or Islamic law, to Somalia, but Osama bin Laden accused him of partnering with “the infidel” in a national unity government. Islamist insurgents allied to al-Qaeda control much of Somalia.