London, UK, October 13, 2006 – Somalia's neighbor to the north, Djibouti, will host a regional summit in November in an attempt to prevent further escalation in the region, the London-based daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat reports.

Somalia ’s neighbors fear that the fragile situation in the country will spread to their countries. Ethiopia and Kenya have already sent troops to their borders to prevent Somalia's Islamist armed forces from entering their territories. In the past few months, Somalia's Islamic Courts Union (ICU) has managed to gain control over most of southern Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu. Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is currently based in the city of Baidoa.  

President of Djibouti, Isma'il 'Omar Gela, will try to mediate between the ICU and the TFG, as well as between the ICU and the neighboring countries.

The ICU blames Ethiopia for sending hundreds of troops into Somalia in order to support the Somali transitional government. Ethiopia is denying these allegations.

Source: The Media Line