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The Eritrean
Conflict
Middle East Hot Spot
A high-stakes guerrilla war is raging in Eritrea- Ethiopia's
fourteenth province. This war could
become
a
dangerous
extension
of
the lsraeli-Arab struggle.
A
foreign power
con–
trolling Eritrea could
cut
a vital trade artery and precipitate
a
major
war .
by
Raouf El Gammal
T
WELVE
hundred miles south of the
Suez Canal, a struggle for control
of the southcrn entrancc to the
Red Sea is undcr way. Watching the
confli ct, and having vital interests at
stake, are lsrael, the Un ited States and
severa! Europcan nations.
The scat of thc unfolding drama is
Eritrea, a coastal province of Ethiopia,
which runs severa! hundred miles from
Sudan in the north to French Djibouti
in the south.
Ever since
1962
when Ethiopia incor–
porated Eritrea as the 14th province of
her Empire - a move that displeased
many Eritreans - a radical organiza–
tion, the Eritrean Liberation Front
(ELF), has been fighting lhe Ethiopian
army. The ELF has allied itself with
Arab leftists and has establishcd head–
qua rters in Damascus. Aid has pourcd
in from Syria, Iraq, Sudan and Libya,
with assistance coming also from the
Soviet Union and Red China.
Sincc the Arab-Israeli war in 1967,
the ELf's announced political goals
have been identified cver more closely
with pan-Acab, anti-Zionist aspirations,
including the demand that the Red Sea
should become an Arab "lake". Osman
Saleh Sabbe, secretary-gencral and chief
foreign spokesman for the Front, has on
severa! occasions told American and
Arab journalists that he is committed to
a truly independcnt and ' 'Arab" Eritrea.
Strategic Importance of Eritrea
Because of its stratcgic location at the
southwestern end of the Red
~ea,
Eritrea is in a position to control a vital
trading "choke-point"
the strait of
Bab
el
Mandeb, the southcrn entrancc
to the Red Sea.
With the Suez Canal in opcration,
the importance of the Bab el Mandcb
to European nations is obvious. Whoever
EMPEROR HAlLE SELASSIE
-
Venerable leader of F.thiopio.
Phllllp
Jomu
GnHIII1
M~