Eritrean opposition elect new leader, vow to oust Asmara regime

A general view of the border area between Ethiopia and the
Temporary Security Zone and the Eritrean border in the northern
town of Zala Anbesa in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

12 May, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - A coalition of Eritrean opposition groups elected a chairman over the weekend, ending a long-running leadership dispute that had crippled efforts to topple the Asmara regime, officials said Sunday.

The Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA), made up of 13 opposition groups, elected Tewolde Gebreselassie as its new leader on Saturday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

"Following agreements reached among members, we will now be able to step up our efforts against the government in Eritrea," Tewolde told a press conference Sunday.

"We will enhance our activities on the diplomatic front as well as holding demonstrations and propaganda (campaigns)."

The EDA had failed to elect a new leader during last year's conference in Addis Ababa because of tribal rivalry.

The coalition is also hoping to strengthen ties with Eritrea's large diaspora, which is nearly the same size as the entire population at home.

The Eritrean government relies heavily on the hundreds of millions of dollars in remittances it receives each year as budgetary support from its citizens abroad.

"The diaspora has urged us for a different outcome. They are against (President) Issaias (Afeworki) but they aren't with us because of our differences," Noor Idris, head of an opposition party, told AFP.

"They are seeking our unity because the tyranny there is committing abuses," he added.

Mohammed Noor Ahmed, another opposition official, added: "If we can mobilise our people, there will surely be uprisings. The Eritrean people definitely want to overthrow the government because of its violations."

Only a few of the group's members have armed wings to face Issaias' 300,000-strong army, but they claim to have carried out sporadic hit-and-run attacks inside Eritrea.

Their leaders admit to receiving support from Ethiopia, Eritrea's arch-rival.

Authorities in Asmara generally charge that opposition movements meeting in Ethiopia have no legitimacy and are nothing more than stooges of the regime in Addis Ababa.

Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia and won its independence after a protracted 30-year struggle in 1993.

The two Horn of Africa neighbours fought a devastating 1998-2000 war over the precise path of their frontier, claiming at least 70,000 lives. The row remains unresolved.