The Osama factor

摘要

Last week's arrival of Ethiopian troops in Somalia's dusty western town of Bai-doa, ostensibly to protect the feeble transitional Somali government holed up there against its Islamist countrymen, has pushed the country closer to war. Ethiopia has long been suspected of having troops in Somalia, hidden in the deserts north of Baidoa. Now their very visible arrival in the town, and their entry into others such as Wajid, has raised the stakes.