October 22, 2012
This assortment of like-minded defectors, disgruntled runaway diplomats, pedophiles, rapists, self-professed “intellectuals and professionals”, deceitful counterfeiters, information launderers and an assortment of shameless scandalous opportunists have made it their forte to slander and malign the Eritrean people, especially the Eritrean Diaspora, by creating defunct cyber political parties with no constituents to speak of (except family members). With fanciful names, various “human rights” and “democracy” groups [over 47 at last count] have mushroomed in cyberspace to regurgitate and disseminate rehearsed spills provided to them by their sponsors. The timing of the emergence of such groups in cyberspace suggests that it was aimed at distracting attention from the minority regime in Ethiopia and its incessant attempts to revisit revise and if possible, annul the final and binding Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission’s (EEBC) delimitation and demarcation decisions. Judging from campaigns and the joint programs conducted with the minority regime in Ethiopia, the Eritrean Quislings League, have played a major role in Meles Zenawi’s 12-year long effort to destabilize Eritrea. Contrary to the picture that the SEMG is trying portray, the regime’s record and those of its surrogates are well documented. They are not merely “accusations from Asmara”. Ethiopia’s intentions have been spelled out clearly by David Shinn, former US Ambassador to Ethiopia and an avid supporter and apologist for the Ethiopian regime. David Shinn speaking to the Voice of America on 19 March 2012 said: “…On the other side of the fence, one should point out that Ethiopia also has a record of being supportive of Eritreans who oppose the regime in Asmara…Shinn notes that Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi stated in parliament last April that his government would actively support groups trying to overthrow Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki…David Shinn recalls a similar cross-border incursion when he was U.S. envoy to Ethiopia in 1997. He says that incident was among those cited by Eritrea the following year when war broke out…” If David Shinn knows, the US State Department also knows, the US Mission knows and so does the SEMG. Furthermore, judging from the Wikileak documents, the regime in Ethiopia has coordinated all its activities with the US Embassy in Addis and Washington, and they in turn have shared their findings with the P-5 Ambassadors, who are notified of its intentions long before the public announcement and propaganda begin. At the height of the 1998-2000 Eritrea Ethiopia border conflict, the regime in Ethiopia rounded up individuals and groups that it believed could support its anti-Eritrea propaganda campaign.
Patrick Gilkes, UK Citizen and Strategic Planning Advisor to the Foreign Ministry of Ethiopia reported the following in a 1999 BBC report[2]: “…Ethiopia has hosted meetings of various factions of the Eritrean Liberation Front, trying to bring the ELF-Revolutionary Council and the ELF of Abdullah Idris together…It has offered support to three small Eritrean Marxist opposition parties, and to an opposition Kunama party, and has recently set up an Afar Red Sea Democratic Organisation to try and build up Afar resistance to the Eritrean government… The Global Terrorism Database[3] has recorded the following terrorist acts committed by the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) and Democratic Movement for the Liberation of the Eritrean Kunamas (DMLEK), the two groups that were organized, financed, harbored and supported by the minority regime in Ethiopia.
· 02/15/2010: On Monday, in Asmara, Maekel, Eritrea, rebels of the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) attacked the 28th Sub-division military camp. It was unknown if the attack caused any damage. Seventeen intelligence agents were killed and 20 others were injured in the attack. The 28th sub-division military camp in Asmara, Eritrea was targeted in this attack.
· 6/01/2008: On Sunday, a military vehicle ferrying food rations was blown up after Red Sea AfarsDemocratic Organization members attacked soldiers in Morad, Eritrea. No casualties were reported. A military truck carrying food rations was targeted.
· 06/01/2008: On Sunday, four Eritrean soldiers, including a senior commander, were killed and more than 10 others wounded when Red Sea Afars Democratic Organization members attacked them in Morad, Eritrea. Eritrean soldiers were targeted.
· 11/05/2007: The Democratic Movement for the Liberation of the Eritrean Kunamas (DMLEK) destroyed the office of the Shembeko town administration with an RPG in Western Eritrea. No casualties were reported.
· 11/05/2007: Militants using firearms from the Democratic Movement for the Liberation of the EritreanKunamas (DMLEK) attacked government soldiers, killing or wounding fifteen of them in Mlzay, Eritrea.
· 02/25/2009: On Wednesday, in Haykota, Gash-Barka, Eritrea, a bomb killed two civilians and injured eight others at a restaurant in the semi-urban centre. The restaurant was damaged in the attack. No group claimed responsibility. A restaurant was targeted in Haykota, Gash-Barka, Eritrea.
· In 2003, British geologist Timothy Nutt was slain as he worked in Eritrea, by the Eritrean Islamic Jihad, one of the groups financed, harbored and supported by the regime in Ethiopia.
· Groups financed, harbored and supported by Ethiopia detonated a bomb in Barentu, Eritrea during the 2004 Independence Day celebrations killing 5 people and wounding 88.
· A 30 July 2009 Press Release[4] entitled “Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) and RSF (Eritrean Salvation Front) have joined forces to strike At the Eritrean Regime in Asmara” said the following: “…In the past six months the afar rebel group have carried out more than five attacks, causing significant blow to Afwerki’s regime, last November it has destroyed a military radar system and attacked military camp killing 285 soldiers in a place called Sanafi at the heart of Akale Guzay, with co-ordinated and simultaneous commando type operation which killed 13 Eritrean soldiers. They have also collected 9 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 1 RPG weapon, 1 Heavy Machine Gun and 3 mobile phones. The combined forces have also captured five elite soldiers and brought them back in to Ethiopia…”
· Emboldened by the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution, the minority regime in Ethiopia began its destabilization agenda against Eritrea almost immediately. On 29 December 2009, just days after the Security Council adopted the illegal, unjust and unfair Resolution 1907 (2009), a group financed, harbored and supported by the minority regime in Ethiopia boasted of attacks against sovereign Eritrean territories.
Sudan Tribune reported[5]: “…An Eritrean opposition group said prepared to attack the government army as the United Nations decided to impose sanction on Asmara last week. DMLEK is a member of the Ethiopia based coalition Eritrean Democratic Alliance, of which two other groups have also waged a nascent armed struggle often staging hit-and-run attacks…The chairman of the Sena’a Cooperation Forum and representative of the Ethiopian government, Mr. Hubur Gebrekidan, in remarks delivered at the opening sitting of the meeting, praised the merger of the three groups and pledged the support of the Ethiopian government and the regional forum to the meeting…”
· The Sudan Tribune reported the following in its 3 January 2010 report. This time it was reporting on another group, RSADO, a group financed, harbored and supported by Meles Zenawi’s minority regime in Ethiopia: “…An Eritrean rebel group, Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO), has vowed to step up military attacks this year to overthrow the east African nation’s government. RSADO Chairman IbrahimHaron said that the military measures will undertaken jointly with other rebel forces” Some eight political groups have built a joint military front to depose the tyrannical Eritrean government” said Ethiopia-based Ibrahim. He said the coalition “will collectively launch massive military attacks in 2011 and we expect major victories along the year”…The group says it has killed and wounded hundreds of government soldiers in attacks inside Eritrea since early 2009…″
· Tigray Online posted a Press Release about another attack on Eritrea, by RSADO, a group harbored, financed and supported by Meles Zenawi’s minority regime in Ethiopia. Here is what the 17 February 2010 Press Release said: “…On Feb 15, 2010, at 5:00 am (RSADO) Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization carried out yet another successful operation on FURI military base, in Central-Dankaliya, Inflicting heavy damage to the military as well as personnel. RSADO’s insurgency group has killed 17 enemy soldiers, wounded 20 soldiers, seized caches of ammunitions and varieties of enemy guns just this passed New Year’s Eve, RSADO, in collaboration with our partnering pastoral societies from ENSF have carried out a massive of operations outside Dankaliya including Sanafee, Akale Guzay, and Area”
· On 23 April 2010 Reuters reported of another terrorist attack against Eritrea by the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation (RSADO) and the Eritrean National Salvation Front (ENSF) – groups financed, harbored and supported by Meles Zenawi’s minority regime in Ethiopia. Here is an excerpt from that report: “…Two Eritrean rebel groups said they killed 11 government soldiers and wounded some 20 others in a coordinated attack on military camps in southern Eritrea. Both of the rebel groups are members of the Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA), a coalition of 11 Eritrean political organisations, who say they are increasingly working together and coordinating their attacks”
· According to a document carrying a list of terrorist acts carried out by the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) compiled from RSADO statements and news releases between 1999 and 2010, there have been about 27 attacks against Eritrea causing a total of 958 casualties-448 killed, 501 wounded and 9 captured.
· On 1 January 2010, there was another armed attack on Eritrea emanating from Ethiopia. The regime denied any responsibility and made public statements to that effect. Despite Ethiopia’s public denials, a 12 January 2010 cable, “Ethiopia Denies Involvement In Skirmish On Eritrea Border”[6] reports on what the regime’s cadres were saying in private. According to the cable: “…Privately, the GoE has been more candid about the likely source of the attacks. On January 8, Tesfaye Yilma, Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Director General for Europe and the Americas, suggested to A/DCM that the two Eritrean opposition groups that claimed responsibility for attacking Eritrean military installations and killing 25 Eritrean troops, the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) and the Eritrean National Salvation Front (ENSF), had probably done so…” The Cable goes on to state the following: “…In a January 8 meeting with A/DCM, opposition Oromo People’s Congress (OPC) and Forum leader Merera Gudina offered two possible explanations for the incident: 1) The GoE ordered Ethiopian National Defense Forces to attack Eritrea to test the international community’s reaction in light of recent sanctions; or 2) Eritrean opposition groups operating out of Ethiopia and funded by the GoE carried out the attacks with GoE approval…”
· In addition, the Global Terrorism Database[7] recorded the following terrorist acts committed by RSADO and DMLEK, groups financed, harbored and supported by Meles Zenawi’s minority regime in Ethiopia. o 02/15/2010: On Monday, in Asmara, Maekel, Eritrea, rebels of the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) attacked the 28th Sub-division military camp. It was unknown if the attack caused any damage. Seventeen intelligence agents were killed and 20 others were injured in the attack. The 28th sub-division military camp in Asmara, Eritrea was targeted in this attack. o 6/01/2008: On Sunday, a military vehicle ferrying food rations was blown up after Red Sea AfarsDemocratic Organization members attacked soldiers in Morad, Eritrea. No casualties were reported. A military truck carrying food rations was targeted. o 06/01/2008: On Sunday, four Eritrean soldiers, including a senior commander, were killed and more than 10 others wounded when Red Sea Afars Democratic Organization members attacked them in Morad, Eritrea. Eritrean soldiers were targeted. o 11/05/2007: The Democratic Movement for the Liberation of the Eritrean Kunamas (DMLEK) destroyed the office of the Shembeko town administration with an RPG in Western Eritrea. No casualties were reported. o 11/05/2007: Militants using firearms from the Democratic Movement for the Liberation of the EritreanKunamas (DMLEK) attacked government soldiers, killing or wounding fifteen of them in Mlzay, Eritrea.
o 02/25/2009: On Wednesday, in Haykota, Gash-Barka, Eritrea, a bomb killed two civilians and injured eight others at a restaurant in the semi-urban centre. The restaurant was damaged in the attack. No group claimed responsibility. A restaurant was targeted in Haykota, Gash-Barka, Eritrea. Ethiopia’s efforts to destabilize Eritrea have also been recorded by various media outlets.
· In its 19 May 1999 article, “Ethiopia’s war strategy”[8], the BBC reported the following: “…It certainly hopes that it can break the strength of the Eritrean army, and an admission, once the war ends, of the serious Eritrean casualty figures, will put pressure on the Eritrean regime…Ethiopia has given support to the opposition Alliance of Eritrean National Forces (AENF), now based in Ethiopia. It anticipates that this will be able to mobilise former Eritrean Liberation Front supporters, and Muslim critics of the present government…It is, however, under no illusions about the AENF’s strength, nor its effectiveness…It knows any change of government in Eritrea will have to come from within the ruling and single party, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice…”
