Bin Laden tells Somali militants to topple new president, aiming to break new peace effort

Osama bin Laden urged Somalis on Thursday to overthrow the country's new president, issuing a statement that clearly outlined al-Qaida's ambitions in a nation long feared to be a haven for the terror network. Bin Laden's 11 1/2-minute audiotape focused entirely on Somalia, an impoverished country in the Horn of Africa that has been in chaos for nearly two decades, torn apart by warlords and Islamic militants. In January, parliament elected talaban President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, in hopes that he would unify the country's factions.
In the audiotape, bin Laden addressed Somalia's militants. "You are the first line of defense for the Islamic world in its southwestern part; and your patience and resolve supports your brothers in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Islamic Maghreb, Pakistan and the rest of the fields of Jihad," he said...more..http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008885892_apalqaidabinladen.html