Fear in the Horn of Africa

As troops of the official government of Somalia take Bur Haqaba, on the road between Baidoa and Mogadishu, from forces of the ICU. And with Ethiopian forces rumored to be involved against the ICU. And with Kenyan troops supposedly massing on the border of Somalia, it does well to delve into what so alarms the governments of Ethiopia and Kenya about the possible takeover of all of Somalia by the Islamic Courts Union.
Here from the Jamestown Foundation is an interesting article on the Islamist background of the ICU and it's connection to al-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI); a sample...

The main goal of AIAI was to form a strong Islamic state in the African Horn countries (Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Somalia).
In the mid-1990s, AIAI initiated attacks on Ethiopian forces (Terrorism Monitor, February 10, 2005). The main goal behind the attacks was to gain control of the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, which borders Somalia. This is a region predominantly occupied by Somali speaking people, but is part of Ethiopia. In 1977, Somalia attacked Ethiopia across the Ogaden Desert taking temporary control of the territory, only to be pushed back out of the region the following year (Terrorism Monitor, February 10, 2005). While the attacks by AIAI against Ethiopia were generally small in scale, the terrorist organization did manage to execute operations as far as the Ethiopian capital.