Is Al Shabaab poised to take power in Somalia?

Be careful what you wish for — because you may just get it.”
This conventional wisdom has come up trumps in Somalia, where for years the country wished and prayed Siad Barre would go away. The dictator finally did make his exit in 1991, but so did the Somali state.Eighteen years later and after multiple attempts to reconstitute a functional government, it has yet to reappear.The last such initiative under the aegis of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) produced a constitution and a parliament elected in Nairobi. Abdullahi Yusuf, a long-time protégé of Ethiopia, became the surprise choice of president of the Transitional Federal Government.Like the Transitional National Government before it, the TFG failed to take root in Somalia’s clan-fractured environment.In the case of President Abdi Salad’s TNG, opposition by clan-based warlords was ostensibly the problem.
They were subsequently included in the Igad process — Abdullahi Yusuf, who had dislodged more..http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/opOrEd/comment/-/434750/507238/-/a3121h/-/index.html

Dozens die, more hurt in Somalia fighting
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/30/Dozens_die_more_hurt_in_Somalia_fighting/UPI-36511230642664/
The US Role in Somalia's Calamity
Somalia’s Fate Still Unclear After Leader Quits
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/world/africa/30somalia.html?partner=rss&emc=rss