The American ambassador had prior knowledge of Egal’s appointment as prime minister

Evidence

Sharmarkee requested a meeting with Osman on July 2 without specifying its agenda. From Osman’s diary, it is clear that Sharmarkee was only going through the motions of consulting with the former president about who to nominate for the premiership. What Sharmarkee did not know was that on June 21 Osman had already heard from the American ambassador that Egal was to be appointed as prime minister: This morning at 10:00 am Abdirashid [Sharmarkee] came to visit me at home. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 971

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the Cold War theme where great powers knew Somali internal politics before Somalis did — connects to later chapters on deep intervention leading to the 1969 coup.
• SEED: A possible essay angle: the extent to which American embassy intelligence knew Somali succession decisions before the Somali public and leadership did.