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EPLF MOTHER OF ALL SURROGATES

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EPLF: THE MOTHER OF ALL CIA POLITICAL SURROGATES IN  
ETHIOPIA  -  HOW RICHARD COPELAND (MILES COPELAND )OF THE 
CIA  RECRUITED  ISSAYAS AFEWORK :1969  
  
    
 
as told by  
Tesfa Mikael Giorgio 
   (Senai magazine, Addis Ababa, February 1985 Eth.cal  (1993) translated by us from the 
Amharic, and annotated )  
  
  
 
 
           Before delving into the subject matter, we would like to say a few  words 
 about the CIA.  Established in 1947, the CIA is th e American spying agency in foreign 
lands with the objective of advancing  the national  interests of the United States. Similar to 
its rival the Soviet KGB, the CIA has been deeply e ngaged and has to a large extent met 
the responsibility entrusted to it.  
          This spy agency has been engaged since it s establishment in 1947, in three 
principal areas it has been particularly successful   in secret political infiltration and 
psychological warfare in foreign lands through the use of force and secret plots. 
           Given American focus  on fighting social ism , the CIA has been particularly active in  
infiltrating and plotting to overthrow socialist re gimes, and designating  in its place a 
puppet regime which it can manipulate as desired. W here it has not succeeded to 
overthrow a given regime through infiltration and s ecret plotting, America does not hesitate 
to intervene militarily and designate a puppet regi me. All this is carried out in the name of 
“democracy  and human rights”  
            It was thus  that (in 1969)  the CIA ha d launched  a secret operation known by the 
code name of  “seed planting project” (nursery),  a t Qagnew military  base (near Asmara). 
At that date the United States had completely lost faith in Haile Selassie’s government. 
This CIA project was therefore intended to prepare an alternative means to defend 
American interests in the Red Sea and the Horn of A frica. And this alternative was plotting 
against and sabotaging Ethiopian unity, in collabor ation with Ato Issays Afework. This 
account may not be trusted by our readers. And yet this account is the truth as told by no 
other than Tesfa Mikael Giorgio, then a governor of  a district in Eritrea, who had 
participated in the negotiations at Qagnew between the CIA and Issayas Afework.      
 
          America was alerted that her position in the Red Se a and the Horn of Africa was 
facing danger when she realised that  a guerrilla o rganisation called Jebha ( ELF, Eritrean 
Liberation Front) supported by closely allied Arab countries was gaining fame through its 
military campaigns in the Eritrean low lands,  whil e the Government of Haile Selassie 
battered from various angles was shaking unable to stand on its feet. The United States 
Government was worried that if the situation contin ued in this way, Eritrea and the Red 
Sea will fall under the control of extremist Arab c ountries (allied to the Soviet Union), while 
Haile Selassie’s government will be overthrown and replaced by a socialist regime. ( Our 
Note : More importantly, d ue to PLO training  and advice  (and also due to th e provision  of arms  and 
finances  by Libya, the Sudan, South Yemen, and oth ers …the establishment of the PLF marked an importa nt 
turning point. Until then, for instance, Eritrea fi ghters had rarely used mines and explosives…By 1969  the 
number of Eritrea’s  who had received training  abr oad (including Cuba , China) in advanced guerrilla 

tactics had increased considerably. With their new method  and weapons  the Eritreans began executing 
spectacular acts of sabotage and terrorism, includi ng hijacking of planes, kidnapping of foreign diplo mats, 
blowing up of bridges in front of cameras and ambus hing and assassinating  Ethiopian functionaries  an d 
collaborators  Hagai Erlich, “The struggle over Eritrea”, 1983 p. 28). 
 
         That is the background to the CIA secret o peration known by the secret code of  
“seed planting project .” And  indeed the CIA  has been able to anticipate and  avoid a 
planned attack by the Palestinian organisation know n as “Black September ”against the 
American  bases in Asmara and Gura. 
           Once the project was launched the CIA an d top officials of Qagnew were busy 
recruiting intellectuals and  young Eritreans comin g to relax at the “Top Five” and Golf 
Club in Asmara. Their spying infiltration  activiti es convinced the CIA more and more that 
Haile Selassie’s government,  faced with  both civi lian and military opposition, could not 
last long, while on the other hand, the Eritrean gu errilla organisation – the ELF – active in 
the Eritrean deserts, faced equally strong ( 
mainly Christian ) opposition  whom it hunted 
down and eliminated physically( see note below ).  Among the Eritrean groups opposed to 
the ELF was Issayas Afework’s “Selfi Netsanet”  
 
 
(Our Note : Kidane Kinfu had been sent as of 1965 by the ELF to recruit Addis Ababa University 
students for the ELF and  sow the seed of student r evolt against the government of Haile Selassie 
Government. “Eritreans at Addis Ababa university di stinguished themselves  by their politicl 
activism, and their immersion in the radical ideolo gical currents that were beginning to surge in 
Ethiopian student student  circles in the mid 1960’ s (Markakis, “National and Class Conflict in the 
Horn” –1985, p119). By coincidence or by design, th e Ethiopian student revolt had also started in 
1965: And that is where the future leaders of the E PLF, including perhaps Issayas, were recruited.  
It is difficult to imagine that Kidane Kiflu entere d Ethiopia and carried out his mission of recruitme nt 
and inciting revolt without attracting the attentio n of the Ethiopian security. We could imagine on 
the other hand , that he too was a CIA agent inside  the ELF. Indeed given CIA expertise in 
destroying unwanted opposition parties through infi ltration, and through the creation of parallel 
organisations, it has, either directly or indirectl y, through Saudi Arabia and conservative Iraq, 
infiltrated  the ELF Muslim leadership of the weste rn Muslim lowlands, with its well-known divide 
and rule objective on religious and linguistic line s (Arab versus Tigregna ). Although strongly 
resented by the Christian highlanders, Arabic was t he official language of the ELF. Its literature 
was written in that language, and Arab nomenclature  was adopted within the front, such as Jebha, 
and Shaabia. All that contributed to the Muslim-Chr istian contradictions. It is to such contradictions  
and divide and rule methods that the continuous mas sacre of Christian members within the ELF 
has been attributed.. The creation of religious and  linguistic zones similar to our  “kilel” of to-day  
enforced by the conservative elements within the EL F and which had incited strong opposition 
among particularly the Christian highlanders, may a lso be attributed to such  “divide and rule” anti-
unity  external infiltration. So also Ethiopia, cer tainly in collaboration with the CIA appears to hav e 
been engaged in secret contacts with the ELF: Indee d about September 1969, that is a few weeks 
before  the CIA story we are recounting here, “the leaders of the western regions were in constant 
touch  with Idris (Mohamed) Adam (one time ELF Chai rman and conservative element)  were 
negotiating a deal with the Ethiopians in which the  ELF would stop disturbing communications with 
the ports of Massawa and Assab  in exchange for a f ree hand  in the west (along the Sudan 
border. Mohamed (Ahmed )Abduh (member of the Genera l command formed by the Adobha 
congress of August 1969) was accused of negotiating  to this effect with the U.S consul in Asmara , 
Murray Jackson. The chief advisors of Eritrea’s Eth iopian Governor, Ras Asrate Kassa – namely , 
Tesfa Yohannes Berhe, Hamid Faraj, and Muhammad Uma r Qadi – were to be in contact with 
members of the General command. In fact, some time in early 1970, (1969?) the Ethiopian Ras 
clandestinely to a remote town near the Sudanese bo rder to discuss the matter  with Idris Adam”  
(Hagai Erlich , “The Struggle over Eritrea : 1962-1 978 (Hoover Institution publication , 1983). 
             Issayas Afework was born in 1944 (Haga i says 1946, op.cit. p.29) in the Christian 
highlands of Hamassein, and is of Tigrai origin on the side of  his mother who was a native of 

ancient and historic Yeha in the Adowa region. Deja ch Solomon, one time Assistant Minister of 
Interior, and later Governor of Wollo was his uncle . Issayas  had joined the ELF in 1967 (Markakis,, 
op.cit  p.286, says 1966) after dropping out from t he Engineering college in Addis Ababa university. 
Indeed In 1967, the Supreme Council of the ELF had sent him to Maoist China where he received 
a six-month military training, a strange opportunit y for a newly recruited Christian element in the 
largely conservative Muslim leadership drawn from t he Western lowlands  and conservative ELF. 
Hagai Erlich’s story regarding the early days of Is sayas in relation withthe Italian half-cast Dr. 
Biasolo is false in some ways. Hagai writes, (“The struggle over Eritrea” ,1983, p.29) of the school 
teacher Issayas  who “as a youngster had been influ enced by a Marxist-oriented economist from 
Asmara, Dr. Biasolo, a half-caste businessman”. I h ave known Dr. Biasolo in Rome where he lived 
in exile under the Derg. He was not a Marxist. On t he contrary he was very close to the Etrhiopian 
leadership of the EPDA organised and financed by th e CIA. One may therefore conclude that he 
might have been in those days in Asmara in the 1960 ’s and early 1970’s among ther CIA 
collaborators , all, including Issayas – posing und er the cover and cloak of Marxism. With the rise 
to power of Issayas , Dr. Biasolo who has been prom ised  to regain the property of his house, has 
returned to Asmara. 
 
           In  1969 Kidane Kinfu  would be assasina ted in Kassala, at the height of an anti-Christian 
hysteria, among the Western Eritrea ELF Muslim lead ers , apparently on suspicion of being a spy 
of the Addis Ababa Government. Several hundred Chri stians were thus executed accused of being 
spies  of the imperial government. see John Markaki s, op.cit p.120, 126. 127 For the  Christian 
Eritreans  then concentrated in the former  “fifth”  Christian zone reserved for  fighters from the 
highlands of  Serae, Hamasein and Akle Guzai,   and  “particularly for  the radical former (Addis 
Ababa university) student  contingent, this was the  last straw. Some abandoned the movement 
entirely.; others fled to the Sudan. Others in the former “fifth zone” split  and headed for a place 
called Ala  on the eastern edge of the escarpment in Akle Guzai  to join Abrham  Tewolde , the 
former commander of the “fifth Christian zone”. Amo ng them was Issayas  Afework  the former 
political commissar of this zone.” 
 ( Markakis,, Nartional and Class conflict  p.127).  It appears that Issayas group was initially (about  
this date) was no more than eleven.(Tesfa Tsion Med hanie, op. cit p. 35)  
 
           One other 
 important point that has to be raised in relation w ith Issayas’ membrship 
of the ELF is that, as we now discover, justifying ELF suspicion,  Issayas was indeed one of 
the spies in the service of  the Ethiopian governme nt paid to infiltrate the ELF and inform  
Addis Ababa . In fact, in an interview with  the magazine “ Menelik ” (March 2001),  General Daniel 
Menghistu, head of External  intelligence Service  at the Emperor’s cabinet. As the General himself 
tells us their job was different  from the internal  security organisation. Their job was to spy on ant i 
Ethiopian and anti-Government activities on the par t of our Arab neighbours inside Eritrea and 
Somalia , as well as to spy on Soviet Communist act ivities in Ethiopia, and protect the person of 
the Emperor while travelling abroad.. The General t ells us that the Foreign Intelligence Service was 
working in close co-operation with the “our allies” , and particularly , the CIA who helped them in the  
fights of what was considered the “principal enemy” , ie. the Soviet Union and Soviet Communism.: 
“ Paul Henze was our advisor for 27 months (1969-1972 ) ” the general tells  us . Paul Henze was 
“advising” So Ethiopia while Issays was plotting wi th Richard Copeland in Asmara to break Eritrea 
and dismember Ethiopia !  It is no secret that the Ethiopian security was or ganised  by the CIA and 
Mossad , and may indeed be considered , under Haile  Selassie , like the the Savak of the Shah of  
Iran, an international branch of the CIA. General D aniel tells us  that although the Eritrean 
secessionist movement  led by the ELF was infinitel y small and did not mobilise more that 2000 
followers  they kept close watch on its movements, through spies that had infiltrated the 
organisation.. 
 
 
“And one of these was Issayas Afework whom they had  recruited to follow the 
Eritrean situation and report to them. It was preci sely for that purpose that he was 
sent to join the ELF ” Issayas was financed and equ ipped with all that he needed by 
_Ras Asrate kassa (  (the Emperor’s Enderasse –  Governor – 1964-1970 .) Our agent in 
the Sudan was also co-ordinating the activities of  our  spies in the infiltration of the 

ELF. Our spies  were largely Christians as they Chr istian highlanders in Eritrea were 
afraid of being overwhelmed by the Muslims . “. 
 
There could be no doubt that both the CIA and the M ossad must have known this. The 
Israelis  were since 1965 engaged in the formation of the Nebelbal commando para-military 
counter-insurgency  units to tackle the ELF. in clo se collaboration with Ras Asrat, must have 
known this  And this might support the suspicion th at Issayas was already in contact with the CIA 
before leaving Addis permanently, and perhaps even as a student at the Engineering College 
about which certain ELF leaders seem to be convince d. )  
 
            
Once the Americans had discovered and identified th e persecution suffered by  
“selfi netsanet” they were convinced that they coul d use it to fight back against the Muslim 
ELF and its ally the Palestinian  “Black September”  which threatened their bases at 
Asmara and Gura. It was thus that   Richard Copeland  (we believe the true name is the 
famous CIA agent at this time Miles Copeland who re ruited Abdel Nasser)of the CIA 
launched the “seed planting project” and began hunt ing for members of that organisation. 
Whether Eritrea will break away from Ethiopia , and  whether human rights will be 
respected or not,  does not bother American foreign  policy. As long as American interests 
were served they were ready to ally themselves with  the devil. And in order not to attract 
the opposition of the Ethiopian government, Richard   Copeland had suggested what he 
called “Peace Conference” between the Ethiopian gov ernment and apparently, the ELF 
leadership.(Our Note: Whether the invitation letter was really sent  to t he ELF leadership  or 
it was just another CIA ploy of announcing names wi thout actually inviting the person concerned, 
as would seem most likely in this case,  is for the  survivors of ELF to tell us)  . A separate letter 
inviting “Selfi Netsanet” to attend the conference has been written by Dejazmach Gebre 
Yohannes Tesfa Maryam..  Upon receipt of Selfi Nets anet’s favourable response signed 
by Abrham  Tewolde (leader of the Ala’ Christian group   at that date .) and Solomon Wolde 
Maryam addressed to the Ethiopian Government, the d ate and place of the conference 
has been fixed.  Accordingly a government  negotiat ing committee made up of three 
representatives, - Lieutenant Colonel Gebre Egzi Ab her Mehari, vice commissioner of the 
Eritrean Police force, and the author of this accou nt , Tesfa Mikael Giorgio, governor of 
Deqe Mehari , with Dejazmach Gebre Kidan Tessema – judge at the supreme court, as 
Chairman, was established on Hedar 28, 1962 (Novemb er 1969). On 5 Tahsas , the 
negotiating committee had proceeded to the Ala dese rt but upon arrival the ELF leaders 
have not turned up because of the conflitct between  the two. Waiting for us were only   
.the  “Selfi Netsanet”  faction of the ELF. Selfi N etsanet had therefore a good opportunity 
to discuss alone and freely with the Government del egation and meet the American 
officials at Qagnew. Several suggestions were forwa rded by both parties. in the 
negotiations. The Selfi Netsanet group had requeste d for arms and material assistance to 
fight the Muslim ELF, but the government side havin g declined to meet that request saying 
they did not want to fuel a religious war among cit izens.; they had suggested instead to 
Selfi Netsanet to give their hands to the governmen t and stop fighting. To this Selfi 
Netsanet having requested to talk to its members fo r their reaction , requested another 
appointment and the meeting was adjourned at that. Following this Richard Copeland had 
asked  the author of this story, Tesfa Mikaell Gior gio, to arrange a separate meeting 
between him and the Selfi Netsanet leadership. It w as thus that a meeting between 
Richard Copeland and Habte Selassie Gebre Medhin at  Qagnew military base.  
                   
              At this meeting Copeland had learnt f rom  Habte Selassie many major facts  
pertinent to his secret plot. He had concluded that  it was important  to ally himself with his 
new friends and attack both the Arab supported ELF and Haile Selassie’s government 
from the back by surprise. He did not mind to see E ritrea disintegrating as long as 

America’s interests in the Red Sea and Horn of Afri ca were served.    
            Habte Selassie briefed Abrham Tewolde a nd Issayas on  his talks with Richard 
Copeland. He was then sent back to Deqe Mehari to a rrange the agenda for the  next 
meeting with Richard Copeland. At the fixed date , Richard Copeland and his friend 
Richard  Siwelen   had come up with a an arms catalogue in order to  further sharpen the 
desire of Selfi Netsanet leaders, and induce them t o accept to serve as American war 
proxies. At this meeting Richard Copeland appeared most interested to know the 
contradiction between Selfi Netsanet and the ELF. R ichard Copeland was not worried by 
the secession of Eritrea from Ethiopia but by the  influence Islamic fundamentalist  with the 
ELF and the risk of losing the Red Sea to a rival  power. Finally Richard Copeland asked 
Habte Selassie  to  bring a letter from the Selfi N etsanet leadership  officially requesting  
for military assistance. 
               Accordingly a letter signed by Issay as Afework was addressed to the head of 
Qagnew  base Colonel Mamuzer  with the following requests.  
 
1.Given that the Christian fighters at Ala are dail y massacred and slaughtered by the  
Muslim ELF which obtains massive political and mili tary aid from Arab as well as , 
indirectly, socialist countries,   
2.Given that the ELF policy reflects above all Arab  policy and is  targeted mainly against  
American and Israeli interests 
3. Given that the political objective of Selfi Nets anet is fundamentally different  aiming  
towards the establishment of  a progressist democra tic movement. To that end they 
requested American military assistance.- 
 
     Selfi Nertsanet addressed such letters not onl y to the United States but to all Western 
countries stressing always the fact of Arab and soc ialist assistance to the Muslim  ELF. 
It was clear that the leaders of Selfi Netsanet saw  only their rival the ELF whom they 
wanted to destroy. They did not however consider th e danger of allying with imperialist 
Western powers who at any time could change their p osition to if they find other more 
profitable ways   for advancing their interests. 
        After receiving the letter from Ato Issayas  the Americans were happy to see that their 
“seed planting  operation “ was advancing successfu lly. They fixed a budget and started 
financing the movement. However , as they had to fi nalise the agreement with Ato 
Afrework, an appointment date was fixed. ( 
it is instructive that the letter to the CIA was si gned 
by Issayas Afework, and that the CIA specifically a sk to talk to Afework and not to the Selfi 
Netsanet Chairman Abrham  Tewolde . In fact  Abrham Tewolde    would  die in what has been 
described “mysterious circumstances”  in reality po isoned by Issayas – prior to the 1 st  ELF 
Congress October-November 1971. Issayas  will becom e the top figure –see Tesfa Tsion 
Medhanie, “Eritrea – Dynamics of  a National Questi on,” p.37)   
         
 
         On the appointment date, Ato Tesfa Mikael drove to Ala to accompany  Ato Afework 
to Qagnew. The Americans having decided that , for security reasons, it would be better to 
hold the talks outside Qagnew, the group drove to t he  house of a security colleague near 
the Cathedral of St. Francesco at the Residence cal led Bowling. Richard Copeland had 
come in company of   several American officials for  the negotiations with Issayas Afework. 
Ato Issayas repeated the request that he had alread y enumerated in his letter and 
concluded by asking American assistance. The Americ ans wanted to hear a clear 
commitment on the part of Ato  Issayas that they wi ll protect all American bases and 
citizens in Eritrea from terrorist attacks. Ato Iss ays promised that he will do everything to 
protect American interests, but that he did not yet  have the force to defend the American 
bases in Asmara and  Gura. The Americans told him i ndirectly that as they are worried that 

following the fall of the  weakened  government of  Haile Selassie’s, there might come a 
military government, unfriendly to the United State s, they were ready to ally themselves 
even with anti-unity secessionist forces . Indeed t hey stressed the point  that they desired 
to ally themselves with an anti-socialist force com mitted to defend the Qagnew base as 
well as similar other American bases in the Red Sea ., and committed to the establishment 
of a democratic government in Eritrea…  
        Ato Issayas Afework,  not having appreciate d  the American indirect reference 
regarding their disinterest for Ethiopian unity, st ressed that they wanted full independence 
and that they will not accept a federal solution th at may be proposed by  the new 
government after Haile Selassie. In reply Richard C opeland had assured Issayas that as 
long American interests were safeguarded., they car e less about Ethiopian unity. “ If you 
satisfy our conditions, and  you want independence in return you shall have your 
independence” Issayas was told. Richard Copeland we nt indeed further to advise Issayas 
not to accept the federal solution from a new gover nment. Ato Issayas was further assured 
that if Selfi Netsanet could succeed in bringing  t he Red Sea coast under its control, they 
promised to supply unlimited quantity of arms by se a.  
      Ato Issayas wanted to know if the Americans w ere talking serious and asked what 
guarantee  do they have that the Americans will off er what they promise. Richard 
Copeland  
 Laughingly replied: “Politics  is gambling. You wa nt independence . We want our Red Sea 
position secured and stregthened. That is your guar antee and our guarantee.” And with 
that the meeting had come to an end. They had then gone to the house of Richard 
Copeland to drink to the success of the new  plot. And there were festivities.  
 
         From now on Issayas avoided appearing in c ompany of Richard Copeland and  the 
Qagnew officials in order not to  arouse the suspic ion of  Ethiopian security officials. So in 
the morning  Richard Copeland arrived with an embas sy Cadillac flying the American flag, 
curtained all over, so that no one could see who wa s inside,  and drove out of Qagnew 
with Richard Copeland in the seat of the driver..  
 
Following this Richard Copeland was busy  putting i nto action his project  of alliance 
with Selfi Netsanet. He had cheated Ras Asrate tell ing him that his agreement with Selfi 
Netsanet was only to safeguard American interests f rom the threats of the palestinian 
“Black September”. He had then started bringing in lorries full of arms  given to Selfi 
Netsanet.which will soon be a powerful organisation  challenging the very existence of the 
ELF, and the unity of Ethiopia and Eritrea. 
 
 
(Our note: So while Richard Copeland was recruiting Issayas as  a surrogate to fight 
Ethiopia and break away Eritrea , Paul Henze was “a dvising” the Emperor’s  external intelligence 
Service, as we have seen  above. Further  this new agreement being signed between the CIA and  
Afework to start a new secessionist movement agains t  the ELF was arranged together with Ras 
Asrat who had attended the meeting. But the fact th at Issayas was now being organised also as a 
Christian secessionist movement to fight Ethiopia m ust have been opposed by  Ras Asrate  or  it 
becomes an intriguing issue. Indeed the Emperor wil l remove Ras Asrate from his post as 
Governor of Eritrea , the next year , 1970, on acco unt of what some observers attribute to an 
alleged suspicion  that the ambitious Ras was plott ing to overthrow him in  collaboration with the 
secessionists, and perhaps also in collaboration wi th the  CIA and Mossad. “ The Ras’ – political 
non-military- approach (as opposed to the military approaxh of Prime Minister Aklilou) was dictated 
by his interest in turning Eritrea into a power bas e  for himself. Ras Asrate concentrated on divisive  
tactics and on secret efforts to work out  a “polit ical solution” with various groups  in the Eritrean  
movement. It seems he had the co-operation of Israe li and American  military personnel in Eritrea 

in this endeavour” (Tesfa Tsion Medhanie, op. cit p .41) What does General Daniel know about 
this? With this background you can imagine the live s of so many progressist intellectuals lost 
unable to unmask the true nature of Issays who will  decimate them one after another ( notably the 
Menkai who were opposed to the regional divide and rule and infighting within the Christian 
movement –among the Serae, Hamassein and Akle Guzai  – once again a CIA ploy of divide and 
rule used by Issayas and Solomon Wolde Maryam  -Tes fa Tsion Medhanie ,op. cit. p. ). You can 
also imagine all the energy lost in ELF’s attempt t o build a united secessionist front with Issayas, 
until he was strong enough to destroy them complete ly, and all the Ink lost  by so many Western 
writers who year after year  “brandished” the Marxi st, “anti-imperialsit”  Issayas. We are not talking  
only of paid disinformation agents,  but  writers a nd parties  who claimed to be Marxists of all 
colours. End of our note )   
 
 
 
 
 
 __________________________________________________ ______- 
 
 
 
 
Various sources indicate that Information regarding  the above secret agreement 
between Richard Copeland and Issayas had soon reach ed the ELF leadership in its 
generalities. Tesfa Tsion Medhenie ( Eritrea –Dynam ics of a National Question ,p. 41-42) 
who is not aware of Tesfa Tsion’s story when he pub lished his book in 1986,  talks about 
“Isayas Afeworki’s secret talks with Ethiopia and U .S authorities in the Eritrean capital, 
Asmara in 1970 (sic)” Tesfa Tsion, in general, a ve ry deep and critical analyst of Ethio-
Eritrean affairs, attributes  the CIA-Issayas secre t agreement to the internal power struggle 
in Ethiopian politics between Ras Asrate Kassa and Prime Minister Aklilou. He attributes 
the secret negotiations to Asrat’s attempt to bring  the Eritrean faction as well as Israeli and 
American support on his side, in order to wipe out the ELF. The author therefore draws the 
wrong conclusion.  We have seen that the CIA had in  fact avoided the presence of Ras 
Asrat or his representatives in the Government of E ritrea in the secret negotiations with 
Issayas. No wonder therefore missing that last cruc ial stage , he considers the 
negotiations a failure. ”The project was not implem ented” he writes. And yet  he himself  
shows in detail chapter by chapter , step by step, the ever growing power of the EPLF 
thanks to American military assistance, until the c omplete destruction of the ELF. The 
story regarding the ELF-CIA agreement  had also bee n referred to in Africa Confidential, 
November 1970, and by the ELF, with their usual  sl uggishness regarding propaganda 
literature, in December 1979, when they were about to disappear, in T he Eritrean News 
letter , ELF Foreign Information Center, Beirut.    
-  
            The Name: Selfi Netsanet  of Issayas will change gradually with the developm ent of 
alliances and counter-alliances.. Following the mas sacres of Christians by the conservative Western 
lowland Muslim ELF leaders, and Selfi Netsanet’s es cape to Ala in eastern Akle Guzai, Issayas 
seeks the alliance of the rich and powerful Uthman Salih Sabi,  leader of the Muslim  Asaorta 
inhabited coast of Samhar – including Massawa and A rkiko , his birth place. In the history of 
secessionist Eritrea Salih Sabi has been lauded by several writers  and acquaintances as “the most 
adroit  politician” (Markakis, 1985) “relentlessly energetic secretary general and roving ambassador  
of the  movement.” Hagai tells us (op.cit)  that Sa bi’s  “native language” is “Arabic”  (Hagai op.cit 
p. 27) although the native lanuage of the Asaorta i s Tigre. He was married  to a Syrian wife.  
Liberal in his outlook Sabi had often identified hi mself with  the cause of the Christian highlanders 
against the Western conservative Muslim lowlanders leadership of the ELF. As the roving 

ambassador of the ELF, Sabi spent most of his time abroad at the courts of Arab Sultans and emirs, 
as well as presidents of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. F rom where he collected the rich funding to the 
ELF. Sabi’s insistance  that the Eritreans were Ara bs and that their struggle against Ethiopia of 
Haile Selassie w2as part of the war on Zionism made  him a welcome guest in Arab capitals and in 
the camps of the Palestine Liberation  Organisation   (PLO). According to Hagai Erlich , it was in 
fact in a PLO  camp in Amman  that he laid  the fou ndation in November 1969 of a new 
organisation,  aided by the veteran Christian leade r Tedla Bairu , Taha Mohammed Nur, ( head of  
ELF-PLF Rome office until very recently).etc. In Ju ne 1970, calling representatives from the three 
zones of the Anseba basin, the Christian highlands and the coast, to a conference south of Massawa 
, where a new movement – the Popular Liberation For ces (PLF) was formed, with Uthman at the 
head of its Foreign Mission.  
          Sabi is held to be a Saudi-CIA agent by s ome observers. He was  a  frequent vistor of New 
York, where he received press covering of the New Y ork Times, as well as in Washington where he 
held talks with government officials and the State Department. On one occasion Sabi’s entourage 
had explained their objective as being to liquidate  one by one “those who espouse socialism and 
communism”.(Tesfatsion  Medhanie, op. cit. p. 41). Bear in mind that western  Muslim  ELF 
leaders were not allowed to set foot in the United States! 
          Issayas ‘ Selfi Netsanet continued alone . Already in 1970, Selfi Netsanet had formulated in  
what was called “Nihnan Ilamanan” (translated as “O ur Objective”), certainly with some 
intellectual support, their well articulated  progr amme differentiating themselves as Christians with 
an ancient culture that goes back to Axum and enric hed by their ancient Christian religion –
Orthodox Christianity and an ancient script - the G eez. A reading of “Nihnan Ilamanan” of which I 
have read the English translation, gives the perfec t picture of the proud Ethiopian, proud of his 
culture and identity. What a pity they had to later  write another history of Eritrea under CIA 
dictation dissociating themselves completely from E thiopia. 
      .  Issayas and his group were now gaining not oriety as an urban guerrilla movement using 
sophisticated arms , supplied naturally by the CIA.  Hagai tells us  that on 14 April 1970, a few 
months after the agreement with the CIA, in a bar i n down-town Asmara , Issayas and his associates 
had  machine-gunned two ex-judges who had sentenced  some ELF guerrillas to death. 
Again in November 1970,. the Selfi Netsanet group l ed by Issayas, Abrham Tewolde, and Ermiyas 
Debesai , ambushed  and killed  the commander of th e Ethiopian army in the province (Hagai Erlich 
, op. cit. p.29) 
          Naturally the Issayas group will eventual ly be attracted into an alliance with Salih 
Sabi’s Popular Liberation Forces (PLF)  with whom h e shared  a number of common 
points including that of being a U.S surrogate. Ind eed  both had nothing political but 
business oriented and one can therefore not talk of  talk of political ideology  but rather the 
absence of one.  Marxism was in fashion in the 1960 ’s and 1970’s  particularly  following 
the Paris student revolt of 1968. CIA had therefore  chosen to cover its surrogates  with a 
Marxist cloak everywhere in the Third World, includ ing we have seen Nimeiry of the 
Sudan, including as we shall see the TPLF, and even  perhaps the EPRP. In any case from 
the very beginning  Issayas would wear a Marxist cl oak . In the strategy of the CIA, this 
helped, among others , as we have seen in the Sudan  to identify the leftists and decimate 
them. : 
 
Salih told Markakis frankly that Issaias’ cloak of Marxism was a fake ploy of cover which 
should not be taken seriously. (Markakis, op. cit p .286, note 57). Another observer had 
noted that the EPLF hiding its totalitarian and rep ressive nature ( Tesfatsion , p-.68) 
assumed different images and colours towards differ ent patrons : To the Arab financiers  it 
appears with the Koran, and to the socialist camp w ith Marxist literature, while to the liberal 
West it appeared as a liberal democrat. (Tesfatsion  , p.71) . Certainly Issayas appears 
brutally totalitarian and repressive. We have the f amous case of the Menkai and other 
prominent EPLF leaders massacred by Issayas. Tesfat sion Medhanie writes that as of 

1972  the Issayas group was officially represented abroad by Sabi’s Secretariat: the 
Foreign Mission. “There was no basis whatsoever to draw a distinction between Osman 
Sabbe’s political line and foreign relations and th ose of the Issayas group.” According to 
Hagai Erlich (struggle over Eritrea, p.31) followin g a meeting held from 3 to 12 February 
1972, the PLF  will unite with Sellfi Netsanet to f orm the Eriterean People Liberation 
Forces (_EPLF) . In 1976 when the two groups separa te , Issayas group will be named the 
Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front using the same ac ronym  EPLF. 
    
        Professor Levine has said: “Being such a cl ose and strong supporter of Ethiopia since 
World War II the United States has been a target fo r blame.  Over the past four decades  I 
have heard the United States  being made  responsib le …” for, among others, the 
secession of Eritrea and  the take over of the Derg  in 1974.  We believe we have 
answered the  blame regarding  U.S responsibility i n the secession of Eritrea. Th next 
chapter  will deal with the rise of the Derg.  We w ill venture to make a preliminary attempt  
to show that the “Marxist”  Derg was indeed made in  Langley (Virginia ) Headquarters of 
the CIA  
               
    ( I dedicate this paper to the Ethiopian Hero  Tesf a Mikael Giorgio , who through his 
courageous   denunciation of the traitors has made an epoch making contribution to the writing 
of Ethiopian history   . Tesfa Mikael Giorgio has been hunted and assassin ated by the CIA dogs of 
war of the EPLF-TPLF on  April 13, 1992, a year aft er  their  occupation of Addis Ababa. ) 
 
 
 
                           _____________Aleme Eshet e____________