Ethiopia refused to back Somalis against Italian return and secretly coveted trusteeship over Somalia

Evidence

The SYL also sent a delegation to Ethiopia, led by Ladane, to solicit its support in fighting against Italian return. The envoy was hosted in a hotel in Harar. Ethiopia did not want to aid the Somalis lest that alienate UN members, since it was awaiting the UN resolution on Eritrea. Further, Somalis and the SYL did not know that Ethiopia tried to gain trusteeship domain over Somalia. The Ethiopians gave pictures of the emperor to Ladane and told him to take these to Mogadishu. The SYL was not amused and turned the photographs into folders used for office files. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1237