ERITREA

[Jacaylbaro]

SIPPING cappuccino in certain cafés in Eritrea's Art Deco-studded capital, Asmara, you are more than likely to find yourself sitting next to a rebel. He may hail from Sudan's east or from the embattled Darfur region, from Somalia, Ethiopia or several other places. Eritrea is not only a welcoming host; it has been accused of giving rebels arms. This has annoyed its neighbours as well as the West. Yet Eritrea's reclusive, authoritarian government is less isolated than it might have been.

 

Eritrea was once something of a Western pin-up boy in the new world order. It emerged from its independence struggle against Ethiopia in 1993 with strong international support and lots of political capital. President Issaias Afwerki was named a “renaissance African leader” by President Bill Clinton. But, 14 years after independence, the West now sees Eritrea more as a rogue nation.

 

 

It has always given refuge to dissident groups; its government says it supports only peaceful opposition. Western diplomats, however, eye Eritrea's role in the region more warily, seeing it increasingly as a destabilising force. For instance, it helped arm the Islamist militias that took over Somalia last year and were then crushed by Eritrea's arch-enemy, Ethiopia. A UN report last week accused Eritrea of sending “massive” amounts of arms to a jihadist militia in Somalia. Eritrea's primary aim in Somalia is to strain Ethiopia's army; its long-running border dispute with Ethiopia still festers and could break into war again at any time.

 

Two months ago the European Union said it would engage with Eritrea to solve conflicts in the Horn, but a number of Western governments are becoming more hostile towards it. Eritrea has got used to surviving without Western support. Eritreans say that every time it has mattered, the West has let them down. They are particularly frustrated by the West's inability to make Ethiopia accept the verdict of international arbiters over the border dispute, which led to at least 70,000 deaths in a war from 1998-2000.

 

Instead, Eritrea's government has been cultivating ties with such countries as Sudan, Libya, China and a handful in the Middle East. Some are old allies who helped Eritrea in its war of independence; now they prop up a dismal economy—and give diplomatic help. “The deepening of diplomatic relations in an easterly direction has given Eritrea breathing room,” says a Western diplomat. “And it's been very cleverly done.”

 

 

here

[Fabregas]

long live Eritrea!

[Jacaylbaro]

why ?

[xiinfaniin]

There is a part of me that tells me that Eritrea is not the best choice for staging attacks against Ethiopian presence in Somalia. Then there is that other part of me that says the relationship between the Courts leadership and Eritrea is based on neither conviction nor strategy, it’s simply a one out of convenience! There aren’t that many choices available to the insurgency in that region, the Horn region that is. Nay, even in Somalia itself, there isn’t a single reliable region that provides opportunity for staging a sustained insurgency to drive Ethiopians and their lackeys away. We can criticize from our comfort in the west but I challenge anyone here to name any country other than Eritrea that could play the role it so far played, mainly hosting the top leadership of the Courts.

 

So Eritrea and its effort to oppose Ethiopia’s policy in Somalia, though admittedly not being effective now, is nevertheless appreciated by many.

[rudy-Diiriye]

Eritreans if they smart will invade ethio asap! its perfect opertunity now.. they may not get this chance again.

 

and they will. alot of scores to settle there.

[General Duke]

^^^lool. Desperate how can they invade anything.

Eritrea lost an opportunity with this ***** leader. Long may that republic stand.

[Fabregas]

Mr Duke the one who is in a desperate situation is Meles Zenawi his military solutions and aspirations for taming Somalis have spectacularly failed. Know the world is attempt to starve, loot and plunder Somalis in the Ocaden region. On the other hand all Eritrea has to do is watch Zenawis empire crumble from Asmara hotels. Knowing that if Zenawi attacks them it will open up yet another front against Zenawi.

[General Duke]

^^^Adeer Melez has defeated Aferwarki in two wars. Made Addis the Brussles of Africa while the despot in Asmara has siolated his beautiful country. Thats comparing the two dudes who were friends, allies and even relations.

 

On the other hand the fact that the defunct courts and otehr ****** stay in Asamara hotels highlights only their fallfrom grace[if they ever had any].

 

Anyhow I wish Eritrea a better future than the past 10 years of constant wars, disputes and chest beating.

[Fabregas]

Ethiopia attacked Eritrea with backing from Israel, U.K, America and others but achieved nothing. Zenawi sent his entire army to Ocadenia, but was defeated by Somalia nomads and know we have Somalia.. I would say Zenawi has a lot of problems to sort out.

[Fabregas]

Perhpas mr Duke and others could explain why the Brussels of Africa is witholding food aid, looting villages and murdering Somalis in the Ocaden province? I was told by Adeer Abdullahi sympathisers that Ocadenia was now free and there was a new Ethiopia?Maxa jira?

[General Duke]

^^^Adeer why are you all of a sudden making up historical events? Eritrea lost the last war with Ethiopia and is Isolated. Though the Ocaden region is a complex issue and one that highlights the clan division within the Somali's as the major problem to getting any direction for that huge region.

 

A stable Somalia will help the Ocaden and NFD more than the fake clan Jihadilooters of the courts and the assaisns in Moadishu.

[Jacaylbaro]

It is clear that Eritrea has a problem with almost every country in the region ......

 

still don't understand why

[Fabregas]

quote:The EPLF was determined that Eritrea would be liberated from Ethiopian rule as a single, united state, despite its being composed of nine linguistic groups and two major religions—Islam and Christianity. The TPLF, in contrast, fought for the rights of the Tigrayan people , and its first manifesto called for an independent Tigrayan state. It was with some reluctance that the TPLF was persuaded to fight for the overthrow of the Ethiopian regime.

 

When both movements took power in 1991, they pursued divergent agendas on the national question. The Eritreans, who legitimized their independence with a 1993 referendum, retained the EPLF’s unitary perspective, attempting to balance ethnic, religious, and linguistic differences. The Tigrayans, intent on bolstering Tigrayan nationalism , developed a federal structure for the Ethiopian State founded on ethnicity. Provincial boundaries were redrawn to reflect ethnic divisions.

 

Soon the two movements’ aims collided. The EPLF began a policy of rapid economic growth , and the enterprises they established came into direct competition with developments across the border. In 1997, Eritrea issued its own currency, and this disrupted trade with Ethiopia. Internationally, Eritrea asserted its national identity so forcefully that it soon had diplomatic incidents and military confrontations with neighboring Sudan, Djibouti, and Yemen. To the Tigrayans, now in power in Ethiopia, as to Eritrea’s other neighbors, Asmara appeared arrogant, assertive, and uncooperative.

 

The Eritreans came to regard the TPLF in much the same light. Tigrayan hard-liners first expanded the borders of their home province to incorporate areas that were traditionally inhabited by other ethnic groups within Ethiopia , particularly the Amhara. Then, in 1997, they published a map of Ethiopia that incorporated large sections of Eritrea within Tigray .

 

A border commission between the two countries, established in November 1997, met only once and had made no progress before the conflict erupted. Tragically, when fighting began in May 1998 with the killing of several Eritreans, an Eritrean delegation was in Addis Ababa for the commission’s second meeting. When news reached Asmara, the Eritrean authorities reacted by sending heavily armed reinforcements to the flash point. Despite phone calls between the two leaders, the crisis could not be resolved. As the fighting escalated, Eritrea took over three areas of previously Ethiopian-administered territory.

 

 

http://www.fpif.org/briefs/vol5/v5n25eritethiop.html

 

So there you have it. Eritreans wanted to create their own state which including various ethnic groups and the two main religions. They started to build their economy and country, however, the hardline Tigray nationalists still believed that they had a divine right to govern Eritrea, Oromia and various other places. Even though Somalis, Eritreans and Oromos played a hand in ousting the dictator Mengistu, Tigray nationalists such as Meles Zenawi have betrayed all the noble people of resistance, antimperialism and colonialism by diverting to the same tactics used by previos colonialists such as Menelik, Yohaness and Hailesallese.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

11 years ago where we stood on regional politics Eritrea and Ethiopia making peace what does it mean for.djibouti Somaliland and Somalia