Somali President Says Sharia Law In Somalia Will Not Be Strict!

Could this message by Al Qaeda be the reason behind Somali president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's decision to allow a less strict version of sharia law in Somalia?Here's more from BBC:

" The 25-minute audio recording, titled "From Kabul to Mogadishu," focuses primarily on the "important developments" in Somalia, which al-Zawahiri called "a step on the path of victory of Islam."

CNN cannot authenticate the message, which was released on Sunday and was interspersed with television news reports and statements from various al Qaeda-linked commanders. CNN analysts who listened to the recording say the voice is consistent with his intonation and accent.

This is the third message from al-Zawahiri espousing the views of the al Qaeda terror network in 2009; the other two focused on Israel's recent military operation against Hamas leaders in Gaza.

In addition to Somalia, al-Zawahiri also addresses the situations in Yemen, Gaza, and Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Al-Zawahiri praised Al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia who recently seized control of Baidoa, where the U.N.-backed transitional government had been based. He warned the newly installed government, under President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, not to squander those gains by submitting "to American demands" and not abiding by sharia, or Islamic law.

"I call on my Muslim brothers in beloved Somalia ... to not be deceived by those who agree to the secularist constitutions which vie with the sharia in its right to rule," he said."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.

Here's more on the new president of Somalia's decision to allow sharia law there from CNN:

" Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said Saturday he will give in to a rebel demand that he impose Islamic law, or sharia, in an effort to halt fighting between Somali forces and Islamic insurgents.
However, Ahmed told a news conference he won't agree to a strict interpretation of the law, which forbids girls from attending school, requires veils for women and beards for men, and bans music and television.

The president, speaking at his palace in the capital, Mogadishu, said local elders and religious leaders, acting as liaisons with the militants, brought him a message saying the rebels wanted a truce in the two-year-old fighting. He also asked African peacekeepers to stand down.

Ahmed, who was elected January 31, said he would ask the AU contingent to leave once there is a solid political solution to the conflict.

More than 40,000 Somalis have returned to abandoned neighborhoods in Mogadishu over the past six weeks, despite some of the heaviest fighting in months, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.