The West was interested in retaining Italy as a member of their bloc; the Soviets hoped that Italian communists might win the forthcoming election, which would put Italy in the Soviet camp; and the Arabs were silenced by the resolution that assured Libyan independence. Somalia fell victim to this expedient coalition, and Italian return to the country for ten years was assured. The irony of the Soviet support for Italy is that the communists failed to win the elections, and the Soviets became one of the most critical voices against the Italian colonial administration in Somalia during the 1950s.

Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, loc. 1230