Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden warned Iraq's Shia majority on Saturday of retaliation over attacks on Sunni Arabs and that his group would fight the United States anywhere in the world. Osama, making his second Internet broadcast in two days and one of his strongest comments on sectarian divisions in Iraq, also warned the world community to stay out of Somalia, where Islamists have fought their way to power in Mogadishu.
"We will fight (foreign) soldiers on the land of Somalia ... and we reserve the right to punish them (countries that send troops) on its land and anywhere possible," said the speaker on the audiotape, sounding like the Saudi-born militant.
"We warn all of the countries in the world not to respond to America by sending international troops to Somalia."
Osama endorsed Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also believed to have the name of Abu Ayub al-Masri, as the new leader of al Qaeda in Iraq after the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a US air strike on June 7. "We have been informed that our Mujahideen brothers at (Iraq's) al Qaeda have chosen Abu Hamza al-Muhajir as their emir ... I pray God that he will be the best successor of the best predecessor," he said.