Referendum Could Reflect Minority Wish Since Many Residents Aren't Citizens - The voters of French Somaliland, the last French colony in Africa, are expected to reject independence today in favor of continued rule by France. The results of the referendum, however, may not reflect the desires of the majority of the people who live in French Somaliland. The electoral procedures work in a way that benefits the Danakils, a minority tribe that fears independence and wants the protection of France. But, whether fair or not, a vote for continued French rule could ease tensions in this eastern tip of Africa, at least for a while. It is hard to believe that an independent French Somaliland would stay independent very long, for it is a little piece of hot desert land on the Red Sea with nothing productive but the busy port of Djibouti. Its two large neighbors, Ethiopia and the Somali Republic, claim it as their own and are ready to go to war over it...

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