Haile Selassie’s friendliness toward Somalis masked expansionist designs.

Evidence

After enjoying the kind company of his friends for several weeks he made his way to the cosmopolitan center of Dire Dawa. There he met two key Somali personalities, Jama Urdooh, a tea shop owner, and Sheikh Azhari, a learned man of Islam. Within a week of arriving in Dire Dawa, Hussen learned that Emperor Haile Selassie wanted to absorb Somalia and Eritrea into Ethiopia, which explained why the emperor was relatively friendly toward Somalis—it was a way of seducing them to his political agenda. Hussen teamed up with Urdooh to invigorate the SYL, since Hussen knew the principles and the songs of the party. They decided to establish an office, and Urdooh paid the initial rent and bought furniture. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 211

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Ethiopia’s later claims on Somali regions, part of the broader pan-Somali struggle the reader follows.