January 13, 2012:  Fearful of al Shabaab/al Qaeda terrorism on their territory, Somalia, Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya, and Uganda have formed an intelligence sharing arrangement. The United States, France, and other Western nations also participate, to detect and thwart Islamic terror attacks outside the region. So far, the program has worked, with several terrorist plans disrupted in addition to catching Islamic terrorist operatives trying to establish themselves outside of Somalia. Uganda and Kenya have Moslem and ethnic Somali citizens, which makes it easier for al Shabaab to recruit and operate. 

While only 11 percent of Kenyans are Moslem, most of them are ethnic Somali and most of them are in one province near the Somali border. There, Moslems comprise half the population of Coastal Province. Despite this, and al Shabaab threats to launch attacks over the Christmas holidays, the terrorism threat fizzled. This was largely due to effective intelligence and police work, plus cooperation from the Moslem community in general. The savagery of al Shabaab rule in Somalia played a large role in this. Moslem communities in neighboring nations do not want to end up with any of that. Moslems entered these areas centuries ago, often as merchants and artisans. They still do well economically and have more to lose from any terrorism.