Updated

Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri has called on the Tunisian people to rise up against the country's Islamist ruling party for having accepted a constitution not based on Islamic Shariah law.

In an audio recording posted on militant forums Sunday, al-Zawahri says the leaders of the Ennahda party, a moderate Islamist group that did well in October elections and formed a new government, are violating Islam's holy book the Quran and the Prophet Muhammed's teachings by accepting a constitution that does not consider Shariah the sole source for legislation.

Al-Zawahri says Ennahda favors "an Islam accepted by the U.S. State Department, the EU and the sheikdoms of the Gulf, an Islam that accepts gambling clubs and nude beaches."

The 12 minute recording has the logo of al-Qaida's media, al-Sahab.