The Islamist insurgency persists but al-Qaeda makes little headway

A NEW government in Kenya has let east Africa turn its attention back to the region's original sick man. Ignored and disparaged, Somalia's internationally recognised transitional government has all but collapsed. As an Islamist insurgency continues, the government spends much of the scarce money it has on the personal protection of the president, Abdullahi Yusuf, the prime minister, Nur Adde Hussein, and the defence and intelligence chiefs. The parliament in the town of Baidoa, in the dusty interior, is empty; its members have drifted away dig more http://www.economist.com/world/africa/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=11058638