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BBC-"Topple Somali leader" - Bin Laden

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has vowed to introduce Sharia
Osama Bin Laden has called for the overthrow of Somalia's moderate Islamist president in an audio recording published on the internet.

Bin Laden said President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed had "changed to partner up with the infidel".

Mr Ahmed was inaugurated in January after UN-brokered reconciliation talks and has promised to introduce Sharia law to the strongly Muslim country.

But al-Shabab insurgents allied to al-Qaeda have continued to fight him.

Correspondents say the voice on the recording could not be immediately verified but it resembles that of Bin Laden and was published on known militant websites.

'Enemies' pay'

The 12-minute tape - entitled "Fight on, champions of Somalia" - carried an often-seen image of Bin Laden with a map of Somalia in the background.

The Somali leader's election had been "induced by the American envoy in Kenya", the tape said.