ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - East African leaders urged Ethiopia Friday to support Kenyan, African Union and Somali troops battling Islamist Shebab rebels in the war-torn Horn of Africa state. Ethiopian troops are reported to have crossed last week into neighbouring Somalia, but Addis Ababa has denied having deployed soldiers. A meeting by Ethiopian, Kenyan, Djiboutian and Somali leaders in Addis Ababa called on the Ethiopian government to support the Kenyan-TFG and AMISOM operation. Kenya deployed forces in October to fight the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents in southern Somalia, while the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is based in Mogadishu where it protects the weak Somali government from the rebels. Ethiopias Foreign Affairs spokesman Dina Mufti said his countrys support could be military, political, diplomatic or otherwise. It is all inclusive, it depends of what Ethiopia concretely offers, which will be worked out soon, he told AFP. The summit of the seven-member East African bloc, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, was attended by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, Djiboutis Ismael Omar Guelleh and Somali leader Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. The Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels who have waged bloody battles against the Somali government are also accused of stoking insecurity in neighbouring countries.