ቅድሚ ክልተ ዓመት እስራኤል ዓሰርተታት ኣሽሓት ሸከል ንኤምባሲ ኤርትራ ምኽፋላ ተሓቢሩ። ላዕለዎት ሰበስልጣን ሰብ መዚ ህዝብን ኢሚግሬሽንን እስራኤል፡ እቲ ገንዘብ ነቶም ካብ እስራኤል ብድልየቶም ናብ ሃገሮም ክምለሱ ተሰማሚዖም ዝነበሩ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት መሳለጢ ሰነዳቶም ዝዓለመ ምዃኑ እዮም ዝገልጹ። እቲ ምስግጋር ናይ ሰነዳት ኣብ መንጎ እቲ ትካልን ውልቀ መላኺ ኢሳያስ ኣፍወርቂን ዘሎ ርክብ ዘርኢ መርትዖ እዩ ተባሂሉውን ይዝረበሉ።

እዚ ገንዘብዚ ላዕለዎት ሓለፍቲ ህዝቢ፤ ኢምግረሽንን ሚኒስትሪ ውሽጣዊ ጉዳያን ቅድሚ ክልተ ዓመታት ነቲ መደብ ንምስልሳል እስራኤል ንኤምባሲ ኤርትራ ዝኸፈለቶ ከምዝኾነ ምርግጋጾም ሃረትዝ ዝተባህለት ማዕከን ዜና ብዕለት 25 መስከረም 2023 ኣብዝወጸ ሕታማ ገሊጻ‘ላ።

ኣብ ዝሓለፉ ዓመታት ኤርትራ እታ ሓንቲ ንዝኾነ ይኹን ኣገልግሎት ካብ ትካል ኢሚግሬሽን እስራኤል ገንዘብ ዝረኸበት እንኮ ሃገር ከምዝኾንት‘ውን እቲ መጽናዕቲ ኣረጋጊጹ ኣሎ።  እቲ ትካል ነዚ መስርሕ ብዝምልከት ካብ‘ታ ማዕከን ዜና ሃረትዝ ንዝቐረበሉ ወኸሳታት ኣብ ዝሃቦ መልሲ፣  ገና እቲ ግዳይ ግዜ ዝወስድንንሳምንታት ኣኼባታት ብምክያድ ብዝርዝር ክዝረበሉ ከምዝኾነ‘ውን ኣካያዳ ናይቲ ትካላ ገሊጹ ምህላዉ ተፈሊጡ።

ምስዚ ብምትሕሓዝ፣ እቲ ኣብ እስራኤል ዝርከብ  ኣካያዲ ስራሕ ቤት ጽሕፈት ህግደፍ፣ ውሳኔታት ክወስድ ነጻነት ስለዘይብሉን ስለዘይክእልን፣ ካብ ኣስመራ ቀጥታዊ መምርሒታት ከምዝጽበን ከምዝቕበልን  ምንጭታት  እስራኤል ጠቂሱ።

ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ካብ ዕለት 23 ክሳብ 24 መስከረም 2023 ኣብ ዘሎ ግዜ፣ ብኣቦ መንበር ሰልፊ ሓው ገረዝግሄር ተወልደ ዝተመርሐ መቐጸልታ ቀዳማይ አኼባኡ ኣሰላሲሉ። ኣብ መክፈቲ ናይቲ ኣኼባ ኣቦ መንበር ሰልፊ ንተገዳስነትን ተሳትፎን ኣባላት ድሕሪ ምምስጋን፣ ኣብ ሰልፋዊ ኮነ ሃገራውን ህዝባውን ጉዳያት ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝህልዎ ትስፉው መጻእን ናይ ስራሕ ኣሳልጦን ዘለዎ ባህጊ ገሊጹ።

ኣስዒቡ፣ ድሕሪ መረጻ ፈጻሚ ሽማግለን ብዓንቀጽ 5.14.6 ቅዋማዊ ናይ ርኽክብ ግዜን መሰረት፣ ሓድሽ ፈጻሚ ሽማግለ ምሉእ ናይ ስራሕ ርኽክብ ድሕሪ ምስልሳሉ ፈጺሙ ንመጀመርታ ግዜ ዝግበር ዘሎ ኣኼባ ብምዃኑ፣ ኣቦ መንበር ሰልፊ፣ ኣኼባ ዝተጸዋዓሎም  ሰለስተ መሰረታዊ ጉዳያት መብርሂ ብምቕራብ’ዩ ተጀሚሩ።

በቲ ዝተታሕዘ ኣጀንዳ መሰረት፣ እቲ ቀዳማይ ነጥቢ፣ብዓንቀጽ 7.1.1 መሰረት ንመረጻ ጠቕላላ ተቆጻጻሪ ገንዘብን ንብረትን ሰልፊ ዝምልከት ክኸውን ከሎ  ኣብቲ ክፍሊ ብዝጸንሐ ናይ ስራሕ ጽፈትን ኣሰራርሓን ኣብ ግምት ብምእታው፣ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሓው ፍጹም ኢሳቕ ጠቕላላ ተቆጻጻሪ ሰልፊ ኮይኑ ንኸገልግል ማእከላይ ባይቶ ብምሉእ ድምጺ ኣጽዲቑ።

ቀጺሉ ዝሳዓበ ኣጀንዳ ዓመታዊ መደብ ዕዮ ኣብያተ ጽሕፈት ሰልፍን ምቛም ምምሕዳራቱን ኮይኑ፣ ነፍሲ ወከፍ ኣባል ፈጻሚ ሽማግለ ኣቐዲሙ ናብ ቤት ጽሕፈት ኣቦ መንበር ብዘቕረቦ ንድፊ መሰረት፣ ክሳብ ነሓሰ 2024 ዘሎ ግዜ ከዐውቶም ዘለዎ ናይ ርሑቑን ናይ ቀረባን ትልሚ ትግባረ ዕማማትን ዝረቑሖም መሳርሕቱን  ኣብ ኣኼባ ባይቶ ምስ ዝርዝር መብርሂታት ቀሪቡ። ኣባላት ማእከላይ ባይቶ ብትሻዓተ ኣብያተ ጽሕፈታት ንዝቐረበ ዓመታዊ መደብ ዕዮ፣ ሓደ ብሓደ ድሕሪ ምዝርራብ፣ ምስ ዝቐረቡ ተወሰኽቲ ሓሳባትን ምምሕያሻትን ኣጽዲቁ። ብናይ 4ይ ጉባኤ ሰልፊ ለበዋታት መሰረት ድማ ኩሉም ኣባላት ማእከላይ ባይቶን ካድራት ሰልፍን ብኽእለቶምን ሞይኦምን ኣብ ዘፍርይሉ ትካላት ክምደቡ ከምዝግባእ ባይቶ ደጊሙ ኣረጋጊጹ።

ማእከላይ ባይቶ፣  ነቲ ዳርጋ 4 ዓመታት ዝወሰደ ልዝብ ፖለቲካዊ ሓይልታት ኤርትራን ኣብ ሓምለ 14.2023 ግዝያዊ ሓባራዊ መሪሕነት ንምቛም ዝበጽሖ ስምምዕን፣ ኣገዳስነቱ ኮነ ኣብዚ ዘለናዮ መድረኽ ዘለዎ ዕዙዙነት ኣብ ግምት ብምእታው ሰፊሕን ግዜ ዝወሰደን ክታዓት ኣካይዱ። ምዕዋት መስርሕ ሓባራዊ ስራሓት ዋላ’ኳ ነዊሕ ግዜ ዝወሰደ እንተኾነ፣ ማእከላይ ባይቶ፡ ንዝተኻየደ ጻዕርታት ንኢዱ፡ ክሳብዚ እዋ’ዚ ፖለቲካዊ ሓይልታት ኤርትራ በጺሕዎ ንዘሎ ስምምዓት ቅኑዕ መዋጽኦ ኣብ ጉዕዞ ሓባራዊ ስራሓት ምዃኑ ድማ ርእዩ። ማእከላይ ባይቶ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ካብዚ ኣብ ልዕሊኡ ዝፍጸም ዘሎ ወጽዓ ንላዕሊ ክጸውር ስለዘይክእልን ማዕረ ድልየቱን ድሕነቱን ንምስጓም፡  ዝተበጽሐ ስምምዓት ንድሕሪት ከይምለስን ንዘጋጥሙ ዕንቅፋታት ንምውጋድን ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝካኣሎ እወንታዊ ግደ ንከበርክት ከይተሓለሎ ክጽዕር ከምዝግባእ ኣተኣማሚኑ። ኣብ ምቅልጣፍ ምቛም ሓባራዊ ግዝያዊ መሪሕነት ንዝተቐልቀሉ ናእሽቱ ጸገማት ክስገሩን ክሳብ ክንደይ እዮም ማዕረ ድልየትን ባህግን መላእ ህዝቢ ዝስርዑ ንዝብልውን ኣስተብህሎ ከምዝደሊ ኣኼባ ኣገንዚቡ።

መስርሕ ሓባራዊ ስራሕ ኣብዚ ከይተደርተ መሊኡ ንኽዕወትን ውድቐት ህግደፍ ንምቅልጣፍን፣ ነቲ ፖለቲካዊ ሓይልታት ኤርትራ ዝተሰማማዓሉ መቆሚታት ዝቕበል ኩሉ ተቓዋሚ ኣካል፣ ክሳተፎ ተደላይነት ከም ዘለዎን ጻዕርታት ክግበር ከምዝግባኣን’ውን ኣኼባ ባይቶ ገምጊሙ።

ኣብ መጠረስታ፣ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሓገዝቲ ናይ ስራሕ ለበዋታትን ተወሰኽቲ ሓሳባትን ብምቕራብ እዩ ኣኼባኡ ደምዲሙ።

 

Martin Plaut

Sep 23

Source: Swedish Radio

The government wants to stop Eritrea's "diaspora tax"

Published Saturday 9 September at 16:37

·        The Eritrean dictatorship tries to control exiled Eritreans in Sweden, among other things by forcing them to pay a so-called "diaspora tax", approximately two percent of one's annual income.

·        Now both the government and the Social Democrats want to see an end to this, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström and the Social Democrats' Morgan Johansson inform Ekot.

·        The tax, which Eritrea claims is "voluntary", has been criticized by several Eritreans in exile and is believed to be part of the explanation for violent riots that broke out in early August in connection with an Eritrean cultural festival in Stockholm.

Erik Norman
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

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Martin Plaut posted: " Abraham Teklu Lemma, 50, of Silver Spring, Md., was charged with three counts of conspiracy, gathering or delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government Source: Washington Post A Maryland man of Ethiopian descent, Abraham Tek" Martin Plaut

 

Martin Plaut

Sep 22

Abraham Teklu Lemma, 50, of Silver Spring, Md., was charged with three counts of conspiracy, gathering or delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government

Source: Washington Post

A Maryland man of Ethiopian descent, Abraham Teklu Lemma, is accused of passing on classified national defense information about a region where soldiers battled rebels

By Spencer S. Hsu

September 21, 2023 at 4:23 p.m. EDT

A contract employee for the State and Justice departments has been charged with espionage, U.S. prosecutors announced Thursday, accused of passing on classified information since August 2022 to an official associated with Ethiopia’s intelligence service.

Abraham Teklu Lemma, 50, of Silver Spring, Md., was charged in an Aug. 23 complaint unsealed Thursday on three counts of conspiracy, gathering or delivering national defense information to aid a foreign government, and unauthorized possession and willful retention of national defense information, Justice Department and FBI officials said. The first two counts are punishable by up to life in prison and the last count by up to 10 years.

An attorney for Lemma could not immediately be identified.

In a statement announcing the charges, the U.S. attorney’s office and FBI field office in Washington said Lemma is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Ethiopia who had Top Secret/SCI clearance and access to classified systems as an IT administrator for the Department of State and as a management analyst for the Justice Department. He was arrested Aug. 24, but a scheduled bond hearing Thursday before a federal judge in Washington was not held, and no information was immediately available on the court’s public docket system.

A charging affidavit released by the Justice Department alleges that since February 2022, Lemma copied classified secret and top secret information from more than 100 intelligence reports and removed information from secure facilities without authorization. In August and September that year, Lemma allegedly transmitted classified national defense information to the official associated with Ethiopia’s intelligence service, including satellite imagery and information related to Eritrean activities in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

Charging papers did not name Ethiopia, but accused Lemma of spying for a country where he was previously a citizen, had family ties and recently visited. An FBI affidavit also described military activities consistent with those of armed rebels battling allied Ethiopian and Eritrean government soldiers at the time.

According to the FBI, Lemma communicated with the foreign official by encrypted chat, where they discussed rebel military activity and Lemma sent photos of a “military compound.” The official advised Lemma, in those chats, “[i]t is great to identify the forward deployed command centers and logistic centers.”

In another communication, the foreign official stated, “[i]t’s time to continue ur support,” and Lemma responded, “Roger that!” according to the compliant. The foreign official allegedly praised Lemma’s efforts, stating “[a]lways this beautiful country have [sic] some special people who scarify [sic] their life to protect our proud history. You always remembered. It doesn’t matter the results.”

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The FBI said an authorized search of Lemma’s electronic accounts on non-secure networks confirmed that he possessed classified national defense information including digital photographic copies, notes and maps that he sent to the foreign official.

On four days in August, Lemma was observed at work reviewing classified intelligence reports outside of his authorized access using the State Department’s classified computer system and accessing non-department classified portals, either writing information on sheets of paper he folded and carried out of the department in his pockets or copying and pasting information into documents he burned into a CD/DVD disc and was observed taking home with him, according to the FBI.

Most recently, on Aug. 18, State Department records indicate Lemma completed approximately 10 downloads, most of which were classified at the “TOP SECRET” or “SECRET” level.

The FBI said Lemma was also seen angrily discouraging a Maryland bank branch employee from filing a currency transaction report when he attempted to deposit more than $11,700 on July 15, shortly after he had copied without authorization at least 16 intelligence reports. The transaction was part of more than $55,000 in deposits dating to the beginning of 2022 that a case agent deemed suspicious.

Lemma previously worked for another government agency identified in court papersonly as “U.S. Agency 1” from November 2020 to December 2021, in addition to working during evening hours as a State Department bureau of intelligence and research help desk technician and IT administrator, and as a daytime contract management analyst since May 2022 for the Justice Department.

 

Sunday, 24 September 2023 10:06

Dimtsi Harnnet Sweden 23.09.2023

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Thursday, 21 September 2023 19:56

Dimtsi Harnnet Kassel 21.09.2023

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Martin Plaut

Sep 21

Source: SWR September 20 , 2023 , 10:10 p.m

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The Eritrea event next Saturday in Stuttgart will not take place. The city of Stuttgart announced this on Wednesday evening. The state capital and the Association of Eritrean Clubs have mutually agreed to cancel the rental agreement for a municipal gym and meeting hall in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. This means the event is off the table.

City: “Decision in the interest of public safety”

The decision was made in the interest of public safety and order, the city of Stuttgart said in a written statement. There were intensive discussions between the clubs and the mayor of Stuttgart, Clemens Maier (Free Voters).Start audio

After riots at Eritrea eventSecurity measures: SPD interior expert directs questions to the city of Stuttgart

ban on the Eritrea event next Saturday had been discussed for days. Politicians in Baden-Württemberg debated ways to ban the event.

Association of Eritrean clubs was cooperative

“We only did this to take greater account of the concerns of citizens and the public,” said Johannes Russom from the umbrella organization of Eritrean associations in Stuttgart to the German Press Agency. The association also wants to show its willingness to cooperate.

But this is not a capitulation to violence; the cancellation should not send the wrong signal. Events will continue to be held in Stuttgart and they want to rent rooms from the city again in the future. Saturday's meeting has only been postponed - "indefinitely," said Russom. They want to help de-escalate the situation.

Stuttgart's mayor Frank Nopper (CDU) welcomed the fact that the rental agreement for the event next Saturday had been terminated. On Wednesday evening he reiterated his demand that last weekend's violent perpetrators be punished harshly and quickly.

Police warn violent criminals not to travel to Stuttgart

Stuttgart Police Vice President Carsten Höfler was relieved by the decision to cancel the rental agreement. “This is a strong signal towards a future non-violent political conflict between the two conflict parties of Eritrean origin,” said Höfler on Wednesday evening.

We can only hope that the repeal has an impact and reaches everyone who had planned to travel to Stuttgart again at the weekend.

Police Vice President of Stuttgart, Carsten Höfler

Höfler announced that the police would still be very attentive next weekend. "We will have emergency services both on duty and on standby in order to be able to react consistently and in a low-threshold manner when possible troublemakers arrive. "I stand by this: Scenes like last Saturday must not be allowed to repeat themselves in Stuttgart!"

Last Saturday there were massive riots on the sidelines of an event organized by Eritrean clubs in Stuttgart. 32 police officers were injured. More than 200 people were arrested at short notice. Investigations are underway for, among other things, dangerous bodily harm and serious breach of the peace. The background to the clashes is an internal Eritrean conflict. The suspects are believed to be opponents of the dictatorship in Eritrea. The association that organized the event is considered to be close to the government.

 

ማሕበረ-ኮም ኤርትራውያን ሽቱትጋርት ሃገረ ጀርመን፡ ቅድም ን16፡ ደሓር ድማ ን23 መስከረም 2023  ብጉልባብ ባሕቲ መስከረም ምጅማር ሰውራ ኤርትራ ከካይዶ መዲብዎ ዝነበረ፡ ሕማቕ ምስሊ ህግደፍ ዘጸባብቕ ምልዕዓል ክነዝሓሉን ኣታዊ ከኻዕብተሉን መዲብዎ ዝነበረ ኣኼባ፡ ክቕጽሎ ከምዘይከኣለ ብ20 መስከረም 2023 ብዘውጸኦ ምልክታ ተኣሚኑ።

እቲ ዝተዘርገሐ፡ ኣኼባ ናይ ምስራዝ ምልክታ፡ መራሕቲ ማሕበረ-ኮም ሽቱትጋርት፡  ነቲ ብህዝባዊ ማዕበል ኤርትራውያን ዘጋጠሞ ተቓውሞ ሓቢኡ፡ ከም ምኽንያት ዝጠቐሶ፡ ኣብ ነባሪ ነውጺ ተፈጢሩ ስለ ዘሎ፡ እዚ ክሳብ ዝሓዊ ከቋርጾ ከም ዝተገደደ ኣስፊሩ። ነቲ መደባቱ ክስርዝ ዘገደዶ ተረኽቦ ከኣ፡ ስምዒት ህዝቢ ብምምዝማዝ  “ምስሊ ኤርትራ ዝድውን” ብዝብል ክገልጾ ፈቲኑ። ስምዒት ናይቲ ዝተሳዕረ ኣባል  ማሕበረ- ኮም ንምሕዋይ ብዝመስል ከኣ፡ “ኣብ መጻኢ ጽንብልና ከይነካይድ ዝዓግተና ሕጊ የለን”  ዝብል ኣደዓዒሱ በቲ ምልክታ ክምእዘዙ ጸዊዑ።

ኣብዚ ዝሓለፈ ኣዋርሕ ኣብ ዝተፈላለያ ሃገራት ኤውሮጳ፡ ኣሜሪካ፡ ካናዳን እስራኤልን ተመዲኡ ዝነበረ ፈስቲቫላትን ኣኼባታትን ህግደፍ፡ ተቓውሞ ህዝባዊ ማዕበል ኤርትራውያን ኣብ መድረኽ ሕጊ ተቐባልነት ስለ ዝረኸበ ክስረዙ ከም ዝጸንሑ ዝዝከር እዩ።

Wednesday, 20 September 2023 20:44

Eritrea: President Isaias’s aims in Sudan

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Martin Plaut posted: " President Isaias has recently held talks with representatives of both sides in Sudan's 'war of the generals' that erupted in April this year. He met Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, generally referred to as Hemedti, in Asmara in January 2023. Then, a week ago, " Martin Plaut

 

Martin Plaut

Sep 19

President Isaias has recently held talks with representatives of both sides in Sudan's 'war of the generals' that erupted in April this year.

He met Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, generally referred to as Hemedti, in Asmara in January 2023. Then, a week ago, he met the Sudanese Democratic Bloc and other political parties allied with General Al-Burhan, leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces.

Sudanese Democratic Bloc

Isaias clearly wants to portray himself as a mediator; a diplomat. But this ignores his long-term ambitions inside Sudan.

At one level the Eritrean role in Sudan is well known. Eritrean security forces operate across the country and are particularly strong in Khartoum and in Kassala. They are capable of not only spying on the large Eritrean exile community in Sudan, but can seize them and abduct them, if the need arises.

But the Eritrean President's relationship with Sudan goes much deeper than that.

Isaias's early Sudanese links

In his seminal work, Conversations with Eritrean Political Prisoners, Dan Connell explains how Isaias arrived in Sudan in September 1966 after leaving his university studies in Addis Ababa, to join the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF). Haile 'Dure' Wond'ensae (today a political prisoner in Eritrea) came to meet him in the Sudanese town Kassala in December 1966.

Isaias immediately took Haile aside, telling him not to say a word to the ELF leadership about what they wanted to do. "This thing is completely opposed to what we were thinking, and we cannot talk about it here," he said. So the two men went to a local restaurant and started plotting: their aim was a clandestine organisation within the ELF. "And we said, this is a very dangerous endeavor."

From that tiny cell, of just three people (the third was Mussie Tesfamikael, who was killed in 1973) the Eritrean People's Liberation Front was officially founded in 1977. Although Isaias was the real leader, he took control via the Eritrean People's Revolutionary Party, which was the Marxist organisation directing the EPLF.

During its long years of fighting the Ethiopian government (as well as fighting a civil war with other Eritrean movements, including the ELF) Isaias ensured that it had a rear base from which to operate.

The EPLF had a safe house in Port Sudan and a massive supply depot in Port Sudan, which I visited when I went into the EPLF held areas of Eritrea in the 1980's. Having strong relations with Sudan, and with Sudanese political leaders, has been part of Isaias's strategy for the past fifty years.

Isaias and Sudan's National Democratic Alliance

The National Democratic Alliance was formed in 1989 to oppose the regime of Omar Hassan al-Bashir after he seized power in a military coup on June 6, 1989.

It brought together a range of political parties (from the Democratic Unionist Party and the Umma party to the Sudanese Communist Party), ethnic parties like the Beja Congress and the trade unions.

It was formed to lead the popular struggle against the new dictatorship in Sudan and the fundamentalist regime of the National Islamic Front (NIF) that was the power behind the throne on which Omar al-Bashir sat.

The National Democratic Alliance was to resist, and then openly fight, the Omar al-Bashir government, and the Eritrean role in this struggle was described in detail by Ahmed Hassan in two lengthy articles in African Affairs, which can be found in full here and here.

Drawing on visits to Eritrea, in the period 1996–2003, Ahmed Hassan explained how President Isaias attempted to become involved in Sudanese affairs and finally tried to overthrow the Sudanese government.

Isaias accused the Sudanese Islamists of backing a Eritrean movement - Islamic Jihad. On 5 December 1994, Eritrea severed diplomatic relations with Sudan and subsequently invited the NDA to move its headquarters into the former Sudanese embassy in Asmara. 

As Ahmed Hassan explains, Omar al-Bashir was "viewed at that time by Eritrea, Ethiopia, and the U.S. as a destabilizing factor within the region posing serious threats with its adoption of a political Islamic agenda and the subsequent support to Islamic militants from Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia. That period also marked honeymoon of the relations between the U.S. and the 'new breed’ of African leaders represented by Isaias Afewerki, Meles Zenawi and Yoweri Museveni."

In 1996 this led to a dramatic re-orientation of forces and the formation of the Sudan Alliances forces, which brought in elements of the Sudanese military, under Brigadier Abdel Aziz Khalid, former commander of the air defence force in Khartoum. A new alliances of forces came about including the southern Sudanese movement, the SPLA and the United States.

Abdel Aziz was able to see the new opportunities for introducing a new qualitative change to the political formula of the NDA. This was a direct result of contacts at three levels, with the Eritrean leadership, with SPLA/M, as well as from hints that were brought to him through the direct contacts of Dr. Taisier M. Ali with John Prendergast related to the potential support of the U.S to armed interventions by Northern Sudanese factions that could lead to the destabilization of the government in Khartoum.

https://africanarguments.org/2009/10/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-sudan-alliance-forces-1/

Although the Sudanese military were now involved, according to Ahmed Hassan they had little appetite for an armed revolt against Omar al-Bashir and the Islamists.

“As far as the Northerners are concerned, they don’t have a mentality of rebels”, One Eritrean official was quoted as saying in, in frustration. “For a long time they were against armed struggle, saying that the regime would be overthrown by a popular uprising. Now they have changed, but they don’t know how to take up weapons”. That was definitely the role Eritrea decided to take in the mid-1990s. Teach them to fight and support them in their fight...The setup was complete, the Eritrean regional aspiration of having an allied movement in Khartoum, and the plans of the U.S. to escalate the efforts to destabilize and topple the NIF regime in Khartoum by opening new military fronts in the north, and the personal aspirations and agenda of the SAF leadership, all came together.

https://africanarguments.org/2009/10/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-sudan-alliance-forces-1/

It was reported that the Americans came behind this alliance in an attempt to end Omar al-Bashir's grip on the Sudanese state.

In 1996 the US government decided to send nearly $20 million of military equipment through the 'front-line' states of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Uganda to help the Sudanese opposition overthrow the Khartoum regime. US officials denied that the military aid for the SPLA and the Sudanese Allied Forces (SAF), described as 'non-lethal' -- including radios, uniforms, boots and tents -- was targeted at Sudan. The Pentagon and CIA considered Sudan to be second only to Iran as a staging ground for international terrorism.

https://irp.fas.org/world/para/spla.htm

The Islamist regime of Omar al-Bashir was under a full-scale assault, according to Ahmed Hassan.

[T]he invasion of Sudan was set in motion, with direct involvement of the Ugandan forces in the South, the Ethiopian forces at the Blue Nile and in the South, and the Eritrean forces at the eastern front, in full support to the SPLA, SAF and the smaller NDA armed groups.

The Ethiopian army support for the SPLA and SAF involved cross border military assistance that permitted the SPLA to capture the border town of Kurmuk and Qessan, a town in Sudan’s Blue Nile region just across the border from Ethiopia in a surprise attack on Sunday January, 12 1997.

Simultaneously, SAF and the Tana Brigade of the SPLA, managed to capture the army garrisons at Yakuru, Babsheer and Menza in the northern Blue Nile area. In less than a week, the SPLA/SAF joint forces had advanced to within 30 km of the key eastern town of Damazin, site of the main hydroelectric dam which supplies Khartoum with most of its power. ...

https://africanarguments.org/2009/10/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-sudan-alliance-forces-1/

With the increased support of the U.S. and its allies within the Greater Horn of Africa Initiative, the advance of the SPLA and SAF seemed unstoppable.

The SAF leadership was intoxicated by its success, believing it was near victory. In March 1997 the leadership of SAF was giving the regime in Khartoum a maximum lifespan of 6-12 months before it collapsed as the forces led by General Abdel Aziz Khalid, threatened the city. (Dan Connell, “Sudan: In the Eye of the African Storm,’ Contributions in Black Studies, Vol. 15 (1997).)

Reprieve for al-Bashir and Sudan's Islamists

But the overthrow of the al-Bashir regime was not to be. Divisions emerged within the Sudanese opposition and then - in May 1998 - a border war between Eritrea and Ethiopia erupted.

The delicate alliance of forces that had united Asmara, Addis Ababa, Kampala and Washington fell apart. President Isaias has more pressing concerns as his forces faced repeated Ethiopian offensives.

Out of fears to have to deal with new military front with Sudan while it was involved in the 1998-2000 conflict with Ethiopia, the Eritrean authorities immediately gave a clear signal to the NDA forces to slow down their operations. The roles drastically changed, from attacks and advance on the Sudan territories, to a new role of merely providing protection to the Eritrean borders against incursions from the Eritrean Islamic Jihad that was supported by the NIF as well as from any threats that could directly be posed by the Sudan government forces.

https://africanarguments.org/2009/10/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-sudan-alliance-forces-2/

Then, on 11 September 2001, al-Qaeda attacked New York and brought down the twin towers, as well as crashing an aircraft into the Pentagon.

The world spun on its axis. The United States put aside all else and concentrated on eliminating Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, who had lived in Sudan until being expelled in 1996.

The implications for the Sudanese opposition was predictable: the US ended its dispute with Omar al-Bashir and reached out to the Sudanese government that it had been attempting to overthrow.

The collaboration between the CIA and the Sudanese Intelligence apparatus, that started in 2001, was culminated by a CIA decision, later on, to fly the chief of the Sudan Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Sallah Abdallah Gosh, for a secret meeting in Washington aimed at cementing cooperation against terrorism as was brought in the Los Angeles Post, on June 17, 2005. Khartoum had become “an indispensable part of CIA’s counterterrorism strategy.” That turn of events after the 9/11 of course resulted in devastating implications on the NDA in general and on SAF in particular.

https://africanarguments.org/2009/10/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-sudan-alliance-forces-2/

The combination of 9/11 and the Ethiopian-Eritrean border war had blown apart the movement to overthrow the Sudanese regime. Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government was safe - at least for the time being.

President Isaias left fuming

He had emerged on the wrong side of both conflicts. Isaias was forced to do a U turn.

In January 2000 Eritrea and Sudan officially restored diplomatic relations. The Sudanese embassy in the Eritrean capital was been handed back to the Khartoum government, having previously been occupied by the Sudanese National Democratic Alliance.

The only element that did not change was Isaias's determination to plot and - when it was in his interest - to intervene in Sudan. As his meetings with Sudanese politicians in recent weeks indicate, it is an ambition that he has not abandoned.

 

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