ABSTRACT
The first phase of General Siyad's military rule (roughly up to 1974) may be characterized as a period of concentration on internal problems, namely, local development and the consolidation of the regime's authority. The dramatic progress which had been achieved on these fronts encouraged in the second phase of Siyad's government a more extrovert policy with a greater involvement in external affairs—both locally and internationally. In seeking a more prominent and forceful role in African affairs, the regime stressed how well placed geographically Somalia was to act as a natural mediator between the Islamic world and sub-Saharan Africa. In Jibuti itself, the elections held in November 1974 proclaimed the strength of 'Afar dominance in the local chamber of deputies where, under the defiant slogan Union et Progrès dansL'Ensemble franrçais, 'Ali 'Ariif's 'Afar party won all the seats. Nationalist sentiments in the Republic, stimulated to an unforeseen degree by Somali literacy, had reached a climax.
