Islamists Keep Distance From Bin Laden Tape

Somalia’s Islamist movement distanced itself from Osama bin Laden’s view that deployment of foreign troops to the Horn of Africa country would be part of a crusade to crush Islamic rule.

“Osama bin Laden is expressing his views like any other international figure. We are not concerned about it,” said Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, former leader of the Islamist group.

An audio recording by Bin Laden on Saturday warned the United States and other countries against sending troops to Somalia. It also praised Al Qaeda’s new leader in Iraq. The CIA said a technical analysis confirmed that the speaker was Bin Laden.