Somalia - al Qaeda growing?

Looks like it.

Islamist leaders in Mogadishu deny any involvement in the attack, but they lost much of their credibility, last week, when Islamists acknowledged foreign fighters linked to al-Qaida helped them seize the strategic southern port city, Kismayo.

UPDATE

This doesn't look good.

The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) is to establish an alternative government to the one currently based in Baidoa, news agencies report. The Islamic government will be called the Upper Islamic Council, according to ICU leader Sheikh Hasan 'Dahir 'Uweis.

'Uweis told reporters that the council would eventually rule the whole country. For now, the council will unify the Islamic courts which control 27 local authorities in Somalia.