The idea was such a hot potato that President Sheikh Sharif, who is allied to Uganda, reportedly met with President Yoweri Museveni in Kampala in November last year to discuss the risks it posed to himself and the TFG.
Museveni would later meet Sharif and President Kibaki in Nairobi on this threat.
In Somalia and Ethiopia many people are concerned with the possible Ogaden domination of the proposed buffer zone. The Meles Zenawi administration was particularly concerned an Ogaden-dominated semi-autonomous state, with a large port, could support the Ogaden National Liberation Front, which is fighting a secessionist war in Ethiopia.
Diplomatic effort
Despite official statements of support from Horn of Africa nations, it has since emerged that Kenyaâs incursion did not go down well in many capitals.
This was partly because there was no diplomatic effort to seek support for the action before it began. Former Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangâula led delegations to several countries after the entry of KDF into southern Somalia.
The ICG report reveals that when Wetangula travelled to Addis Ababa to obtain the support of Ethiopia President Meles Zenawi and the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, Ethiopian officials were less than enthusiastic.
An Intergovernmental Authority on Development meeting convened a week after the offensive had begun released a "half-hearted communiquÃ" welcoming the operation.
This miscalculation has left Kenya scrambling to manage the political differences with its neighbours even as it worries about its local allies in Somalia.
