Almost unnoticed in the crowds of bearded, bedizened chieftains hurrying through Addis Ababa with their yelling followers fortnight ago was one Fitaurari Shimels, trusted adviser of Haile Selassie. Up from Harar, he stayed two days in the capital closeted with the Emperor, then departed. His powwows with the King of
Kings, however, were enough to turn the world spotlight briefly on one of the strangest figures in all Ethiopia, Lij Yasu (literally "Child of Jesus"), Emperor of Ethiopia from 1913-16, and for the past 14 years a jealously-guarded prisoner in
chains.
On...