The ELA Meeting at Aredaib, June 1968
The meeting of Aredaib, convened between 14-16 June 1968, was the first such meeting of the joint leaders of the five divisions of the ELA. It is claimed that the meeting took place upon invitation to other division leaders by the leaders of the first and second ELA companies, who were Abdalla Idris Mohammed and Ibrahim Al Ali. The Aredaib meeting was attended by commanders and political commissioners of the all the five divisions whose names were listed in Part III. The 5th Division had no commander or deputy commander in the field at that time, and at Aredaib it was represented by its Acting Commander, Abdalla Idris Mohammed, and the newly appointed political commissioner, Isayas Afeworki. Also taking part at the meeting were Abu Tiyara, head of the Support Unit, and Omar M. Ali Damer, head of the Training Unit and his deputy Abdalla Idris Drar.
This first ever meeting of the ELA commanders had convened mainly to review the multiple problems of the 5th Division. The Aredaib meeting decided the following
· Called for the convening of a wider conference.
· Tasked the 2nd Division to organize the conference and determine the venue.
· Asked the Revolutionary Command to move its headquarters from Kassala to the field.
· Wanted the Support Unit to merge with the 1st Division.
· Asked the 2nd and the 4th Divisions to provide assistance to the 5th Division, which had financial and other problems. The 1st Division was to assist the 3rd Division.
One of the key issues of contention at Aredaib was the motion tabled by Omar Izaz of the 2nd Division asking that the meeting to elect a new joint field command for the five ELA divisions. However, the proposal was not accepted for fear that it would be considered disobedience to the leaderships based in Kassala and Cairo.
source:From the Experiences of the Eritrean Liberation Army (ELA) Part VIII and Final By Nharnet Team (Jan 13, 2005)