April 1-30, 1970 page 1729 ETHIOPIA Rebel Leaders Dismissed According to Iraqi News Agency, the "Eritrean Revolution Supreme Council" has been dismissed because it was unaware of the fighters' requirements having been away from the battlefield for over seven years and because it had encouraged regional divisions and stirred up sectarian strife. A newly elected General Command, whose task was to direct the battle from within the country, would call a general conference to draw up an action programme for the revolution. (R. Baghdad 7/4) Last Reference p. 1703BC AFRICA CONFIDENTIAL NOVEMBER 27, 1970 vol 11, No 24 page 5-6 Ethiopia: The fighting in Eritrea continues Civil war has now being going on in Ethiopia's northern province of Eritrea for nearly a decade. Armed rebellion broke out early in the 1960s, prompted by growing dissatisfaction with conditions in Eritrea after the territory was federated with Ethiopia in 1952. Ethiopian dissolution of the federation in November, 1962 ended Eritrea's autonomous status. Since then, true to the general pattern of guerrilla warfare, the revolt has been characterised by periods of intense military activity interspersed with periods of inertia. At the same time, divisive forces within the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) have waxed and waned. There is evidence that, at the moment, the war is passing through a phase, of heightened activity, but old rifts are also re-opening in the guerrilla movement. While the western border with Sudan has been relatively quiet since the beginning of the year (see AFRICA CONFIDENTIAL, Vol. 11, No 6, Eritieans operating from South Arabian bases have attempted to establish forward posts on the Red Sea plain of Ethiopia and have launched a number of raids on installations along the coast and the eastern edge of the plateau. The port of Assab was attacked in May and a series of ambushes were laid in which 65 Ethiopian soldiers were killed, it was claimed. Buses moving along the Eritrean section of the main Asmara-Addis Ababa road were only able to travel under armed escort, while in Asmara itself two high court judges-Djezmach Zeroam Kofley and Djezmach Hadgoug Gilliagabre-who had sentenced ELF sympathisers to death, were machine-gunned in an Italian bar on Haile Selassie Avenue, together with a policeman, a bartender, and three of their friends. The assassin escaped. The Ethiopian Govermnent countered this with an attack on ELF groups in the Danakil desert by units of the Imperial Bodyguard, supported by air strikes and by continuing repression along the eastern edge of the plateau. In April and May, in the region of Akelli Guzai, 309 houses and two mosques were destroyed in Arafali and 32 male villagers executed, while the settlements of Hadees and Karadaf were burned down. Further north, villagers in the area between Massawa and Ghinda have been forcibly resettled in a single encampment--Shein Saieed, Chief of the Atshoma, was killed, together with 87 of his followers when they tried to resist this move. Elsewhere in Ethiopia, and especially in the Amhara districts, there have been public expressions of hostility directed against Eritreans, particularly after a series of aircraft hijackings for which the ELF claimed responsibility. In one such incident, 140 Eritrean students at Bahar Dar polytechnic were deported to Asmara after local rioting against them. At the same time, the ELF is by no means the united front it claims to be. It has always received support from amongst both Christian and Moslem elements of the population, but for propaganda purposes it has usually presented itself as a Moslem movement which is pro-Arab and anti-Zionist. The policy has paid dividends in material terms, attracting aid from the "revolutionary" Arab countrics (with Libya the most recent recruit to the list of active helpers), as well as from the Soviet Union, China and North Korea. But it has also been cleverly exploited by Ethiopia and has served to a alienate many segments of Christian opinion. Moreover, it has bred resentment and suspicion amongst Christian members of the fighting force who stress that the movement is revolutionary, socialistic, and non-sectarian. From time to time, Christian elements have defected to the Ethiopian Government, claiming that they failed to receive the necessary support from their Moslem colleagues. Thus, in 1967, Wolday Kassaye and other members of the 5th division, operating on the plateau, surrendered for this reason. The Moslems, on their part, are fearful of possible Christian domination in any future independent state, especially as the Christians 'are a more educated ' group. In addition to sectarian tensions, the movement has been passing through an organisational crisis. Growing dissatisfaction with the Supreme Command of seven led to the convening of revolutionary forces at Adjoba in northern Eritrea on August 25 1969, when the Supreme command was accused of living a life of idleness and luxury abroad, and rarely visiting the battlefield and of losing contact with the needs of the fighters and the wishes of the people. Accordingly, it was dismissed and a new 38-member General Command established with a one- year mandate to work out a satisfactory military strategy. At the end of 12 months it was to call another open meeting. But the General Command has in many respects proved no better than the old Supreme Council. Inevitably, the old hostilities between Christians and Moslems have flared up and reached a climax with the ritual slaying in March of two young Christian Eritrean guerrillas in Sudan. There followed a large- scale exodus of these elements, principally to the South Arabian bases. The ELF is thus now split into two branches, namely the supporters of the General Command, operating from Sudan, and their opponents, operating mainly from the other side of the Red Sea. The one-year mandate of the General recently expired and no steps have yet been taken to call another popular meeting. November 1-30, 1970 page 1933 Ababa which said that Eritrean "rebels" had killed an Army General in an ambush while he was on an inspection tour of the Province. He was named as Major-General Teshome Ergetu, Commander of the Second Division. The announcement said that the ambush came along the road from Asmara to Keren in the north-eastern corner of Ethiopia. The body of the General, who was killed on November 21 st, was flown to Addis Ababa and was buried on the following day with full military honours. (R. Nairobi 22/11) Reporting from Addis Ababa, Associated Press stated that it was believed that a number of soldiers were also killed in an attempt to save the General. (DN 23/11) (See p. 192IA) Last reference p. 1812C November 1-30, 1970 page 1921 Eritrean Representative Present The Secretary General of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), Mr. Uthman Salih, said on November 15th that his organisation was grateful for Libya's support. He also thanked Libya for allowing the Eritrean cause to be discussed during the AAPSO conference and announced that a National Congress of the Revolution was to be held in Eritrea. He added that the Eritrean Nationalists needed arms "urgently". (R. Libya 15/11) (See p. 1932C) Last reference p. 1303A July 1-31, 1970 page 1813 question by bargaining and partial concessions. (R. Baghdad 15/7) Ethiopia's Position Re-stated Referring to the disturbances, the Ethiopian Minister of Information, Mr. Makasha, said in an interview with Agence France Presse on July 2lst that Eritrea, which was previously under Italian trusteeship, had freely chosen, in popular referendums, organised in 1949 and 1962 under the control of the United Nations, to federate with Ethiopia, and later to become part of the Empire. "To consider it as an Arab land is a travesty of the truth," said the Minister. "If there is historically a part of Ethiopia which most faithfully represents the Ethiopian character, it is well and truly Eritrea. It can even be said that the history of Ethiopia, going back three thousand years, began there. Eritrea is not part of the Arab world and, however you stretch your imagination, it cannot be included, unless you pretend that the whole of Ethiopia is part of the Arab world." The Minister considered that the "rebellion" was fostered by a "very small minority" urged on by a "religious fanaticism carefully fomented from outside. With the support of the population. it would be crushed in a relatively near future. He went on to say, however, that arms were being sent to the rebels by sea and by land. "Certain Arab States have openly proclaimed that they are providing the rebels with arms and funds. Among the countries supporting the rebellion are Syria, Iraq and, more recently, Libya, who have all only recognised that they are backing the rebellion." The Minister did not mention Ethiopia's immediate neighbours, Sudan and Somalia, probably, AFP thinks, because Sudan has promised to halt all direct intervention in Eritrea and Somalia because the new regime has not changed the relations of "good neighbourliness" which were established with Ethiopia by the former Government of Mr. Egal. As regards these two neighbours, AFP says that Ethiopia obviously remains very vigilant. It is worried that they might team up and thus encircle Ethiopia. This explains the prime importance the Ethiopian Government attaches to the French presence in the French Territory of Afars and Issas, which, lying between the two, prevents this junction. As regards Eritrea, Mr. Makasha attributed the hostility of certain Arab States towards Ethiopia by his Government's policy towards Israel. "Certain Arab countries", he said, "would like to see us take up arms and fight alongside them. But we prefer to observe in the Middle East conflict a neutrality which does not fit in with the general plan of the Arabs to isolate Israel. We would even prefer to play the roll of honest broker if we are given the chance. The Arab States could tomorrow call on us to do this." Mr. Makasha was categorical that Ethiopia would not give in to any pressure. He also denied reports that Israeli military advisers were working in Eritrea and rejected rumours that Ethiopia had granted Israel the right to set up military bases in two islands in the Red Sea off the Eritrean coast. "In Eritrea, as in Ethiopia," he said, "there are no Israeli effectives. The Israeli co-operation missions are exclusively those which should be expected of civilians." (NA 21/7) (See pp. 1810BC, 1820AB, 1824AC) Last reference p. 1785A July 1-31, 1970 page 1812 ETHIOPIA Rebel Claims in Eritrea Radio Baghdad claimed on July 8th that Ethiopian aircraft had continued their "savage attacks" against Eritrean citizens. The Iraqi News Agency correspondent in Khartoum had reported that the Ethiopian Army had recently attacked unarmed citizens in Acchele Guzai Province resulting in the death of more than 100 persons, many of them women and children. These Ethiopian attacks, the Radio said, were in retaliation for the successful attacks by the Eritrean Liberation Army and the heavy losses they had inflicted on the Ethiopian forces in the area. (R. Baghdad 8/7) The Iraqi News Agency reported on July 16th another dispatch from its correspondent in Khartoum, saying that the Ethiopian Government was sending a mission abroad to meet dissolved Supreme Council of the Eritrean Revolution (P. 1729) The Ethiopian Government's object, according to the Agency, was to solve the Eritrean December 1-31, 1970 page 1957 Yemen were among the States which were arming the gangs so that they might carry out acts of subversion in the area in which a state of emergency had now been proclaimed. The paper emphasised the importance of protecting the lives and property of civilians and of the preservation of peace and security in these areas, a matter which obliged the Government to use every available means. (EH 17/12) ELF's Objective Defined In an interview with one of the leaders of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) published in Algiers in December, it was claimed that the movement could count on nearly 10,000 equipped and well-trained men. Leaders of the guerrilla army had been receiving political and military training abroad for several years. The ELF representative told the weekly newspaper Revolution Africaine that the force had automatic and semi-automatic weapons, but some units were still equipped with old rifles. The Army was backed up by a People's Militia, which played an administrative role in "Liberated areas", each of which was run by a "politico military general staff " to which the people were paying taxes. The Front's goal was to destroy the "despotic, feudal Ethiopian regime" an make Eritrea an independent democratic socialist State. The Baath Party in Syria was the first body abroad to grant aid to the Front, in 1964. China, Cuba, and others had followed. The representative said: "We have very close relations with the Palestinian Resistance, particularly Al Fatah, which provides us with material and moral aid in accordance with their means." He added that hundreds of villages had been burnt or otherwise destroyed by Ethiopian forces, and that over 50,000 refugees bad crossed the border into Sudan. Thousands of men and women were in jail in Eritrea. The United States was giving Ethiopia over half its total aid to Africa, while Israel had a base at Decamere in Eritrea and a military academy which trained anti-guerrilla commandos. (TS 28/12) Ethiopia Denies Allegations The Ethiopian Government, on December 3Oth, denied allegations that Ethiopian air force planes carried out an operation in Eritrea on Christmas Day in which 500 people were said to have been killed. The Ministry of Information said that December, 25th was a particularly quiet day in which there were not even police searches of the area in which the state of emergency bad been declared. The Government statement said the state of emergency bad been imposed in some areas of Eritrea because of "interference in Ethiopia's internal affairs by expansionist Arab countries". The ELF claimed in Beirut on December 3Oth that more than one thousand Eritreans had been killed in operations against the Front, which seeks Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia. Its spokesman said the operations, which began with the declaration of a state of emergency in Eritrea on December 16th, were continuing. (GD 31/12) Last reference p. 1932C June 1-30, 1970 page 1785 Internal Security Ethiopia ELF's Headquarters Moved A spokesman for the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) said on June 27th that members of the Front in "exile" in Rome had decided to move their "secret" headquarters to Copenhagen. The decision was taken, the spokesman said, because the Italian police were "totally incapable" of protecting Front members. The Front claimed on June 2Oth that Ethiopian secret agents were hunting down the clandestine refugee and guerrilla reception centre established in Rome in the spring. The spokesman added that the Front's "exiles" had already reached the Danish capital, most of them "secretly". (NA 27/6) Last reference p. 1757C May 1-31, 1970 page 1757 Ethiopia Claims by Eritrean Liberation Front Radio Damascus claimed on May 16th that Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) forces had, during the previous week, confronted an Ethiopian Imperial Guard force estimated at 3,000 along the Red Sea shore. A four-day battle raged, during which the Ethiopian force used all kinds of arms and jets. The Imperial Guard lost 200 men killed or wounded. The Eritrean fighters lost two "martyrs" and nine wounded, three of them seriously. The fighters captured a quantity of ammunition and rockets. According to Radio Damascus, the Ethiopian Imperial Guard does not normally participate in fighting unless the situation becomes very serious. The Radio added that a commando group of the "Eritrean Liberation Army" had attacked Assab port on the Red Sea, destroyed an Ethiopian Military aircraft, killed 15 soldiers, and captured a military jeep. On the same day, at the beginning of May, a mine blew up a vehicle carrying 30 Ethiopian soldiers killing all of them. Another mine on the same day blew up another vehicle carrying 35 soldiers, likewise killing all of them. Another commando group ambushed a large truck belonging to the Israeli firm of Impolex along the Dessye-Addis Ababa road. The truck, which was carrying a shipment of Ethiopian meat bound for Israel via Assab was burnt out after it went off the road. (R. Damascus 16/5) Libya condemned Earlier, a spokesman for the Ethiopian foreign Minister said on May 14th, that the Government "strongly resented" the launching by the Libyan Government of a fund-raising campaign for the "so called Eritrean Liberation Front". Ethiopia was surprised that a sister African country should violate the OAU and United Nations Charters. He added: AFRICA CONFIDENTIAL Vol. 11 No 12 June 12, 1970 EMPEROR'S VISIT. Emperor Haile Selassie's visit to Moscow at the end of last month was, as we expected, quite interesting (See AFRICA CONFIDENTIAL, Vol. 11, No. 11). We hear from Addis Ababa that the visit was arranged on the initiative of the Ethiopian Emperor rather than by the Russians. Our speculation that his desire to see the Soviet leadership stemmed from his unease at Soviet support for Arab encouragement of separatist movements within Ethiopia was, we understand, correct. We further hear that the Russians hinted they might discourage Arab opposition to the present Ethiopian regime if the Emperor would cut his close links with Israel. This he is extremely unlikely to do. His reception in Moscow was much cooler than on his two previous visits. Neither Brezhnev nor Kosygin saw him and coverage of the visit by the Soviet press was comparatively meagre. A possible result of the fruitlessness of the visit could be renewed pressure by the Emperor on the US. He wants them to help him arm a fifth division of Ethiopian armed forces. So far the Americans have been very unwilling to do this. That the Emperor included in his Moscow party the governors of both Eritrea and Bale-the two areas of Ethiopia where there is serious unrest-is not without significance.