Reporting on the strength of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front
(EPLF) which heads the Provisional Government of Eritrea, Agence
France Presse states that:
[a] former Muslim movement, the Eritrean Liberation Front, the
first to rise up against Haile Selassie before being crushed in
turn by the EPLF, seems to have slipped into permanent oblivion (28
Apr. 1992, 2).
According to
The Indian Ocean Newsletter, the Eritrean
Liberation Front (ELF) which was defeated in the 1970s by the EPLF,
has "resurfaced" (18 Jan. 1992, 4). The source adds that:
[f]our of the old factions of this movement, traditionally
supported by the Muslim peoples of Eritrean, have formed the
ELF-United Organization, directed by Omar Mohamed al Bourj. This
group backed by Saudi Arabia, advocates cooperation with the EPLF
in power in Eritrea. But it is opposed to the ELF-Reform Movement
led by Mohamed Sayeed Birathou, that has decided to distance itself
from the Eritrean leaders (
Ibid.).
The Indian Ocean Newsletter also reports a statement of the
ELF-United Organization according to which, "with assistance from
Sudan," the forces of the Provisional Government of Eritera
"attacked its military base in Gash Valley, in south west Eritera"
(1 Feb. 1992, 5).
Additional information on the above subject is currently
unavailable to the IRBDC.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP). 28 April
1992. Jean-Pierre Campagne. "Eritrea Making the Most of Peace."
The Indian Ocean Newsletter. 1
February 1992. "Notes: Eritrea."
_____. 18 January 1992. "Religion
[D]ivides the [R]evived ELF."
Attachments
Agence France Presse (AFP). 28 April
1992. Jean-Pierre Campagne. "Eritrea Making the Most of Peace," p.
1-2.
The Indian Ocean Newsletter. 1
February 1992. "Notes: Eritrea," p. 5.
_____. 18 January 1992. "Religion
[D]ivides the [R]evived ELF," p. 4.