Internal Trouble Weakening Empire Just as It Faces Crisis With Somali Republic - Guerrilla insurrections are growing more intense in Ethiopia, weakening the empire just as it faces a crisis that could lead to war with the Somali Republic. The internal trouble, in fact, may help avert war by making Ethiopia more cautious in its dealings with the Somali Republic. The crisis centers on Sunday's referendum in French Somaliland, a nub of coastal land between Ethiopia and the Somalia Republic. The tiny territory will decide whether it wants independence or continued French control. If the French withdraw, the territory of 82,000 people may find itself too weak economically to stay independent very long. But the Somali Republic, which claims the territory as its own, says it will never tolerate Ethiopian control. And Ethiopia, which depends heavily on the territory's port of Djibouti, says it will never tolerate Somali control...

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