Most nights, the Cambridge City Council concerns itself with local affairs, not straying far beyond Fresh Pond to the West or Lechmere Square to the East. Yesterday, though, the council turned its attention to the Democratic Republic of Somalia.

Acting on the advice of councilor David Wylie, the council voted to send a letter to Somalia's Major General Mohamed Siyad Barre protesting the imprisonment of Yusuf Omar Azhari, that country's former ambassador to the United States.

"It is the understanding of the Cambridge City Council that the former ambassador is being held at Labatan Jirow Prison, that he is in very poor health, and that he has had no opportunity to be tried," the resolution read.

"The prompt advice of President Barre as to the health and well-being of Ambassador Azhark and the intentions of the Somalia Government regarding charges against him will be greatly appreciated," it stated.

A decade ago, when Wylie first heard about the efforts of Amnesty International to free "prisoners of conscience," he said he thought it was "the silliest thing I ever heard. How could letters affect some dictator half a world away?"

But statistics and anecdotal evidence changed his mind to the point where, last fall, he asked the council officially to endorse Amnesty International and begin a letter-writing campaign of its own. The letter to Somalia was the first such venture, but it won't be the last, Wylie said.

"It's our intention to concentrate on elected officials who have been imprisoned," Wylie said.