The Jeddah agreement and its outcome

While EPLF was making relentless efforts for unity of the liberation fronts, a meeting initiated by Saudi Arabia was held in Jeddah among Sabe’s, Ajba‘s and Abdella Idris groups in January 1983.This meeting known as the Jeddah Agreement was also known as the Unified Organization, and the main purpose of the meeting was to block the agreement reached between EPLF and the other fronts to issue a mutual resolution and establish a national assembly. As a result, an agreement was reached to establish a nominal national assembly.

The agreement of Jeddah was created by parties that were trying to use the armed struggle for their own benefits and to establish a puppet front. Majority of the members present in the agreement were individuals who firmly oppose the EPLF. The agreement signed in rush was schemed to create religious and ethnic differences, as well as personal competition for power, and neither the fighters in the field nor the public participated in the agreement. Due to the aforementioned facts the Unified Organization established in the agreement war dismantled, where some members went to the extreme of joining enemy quarters.

One of the fronts that joined the enemy was the front headed by Abdella Edris. Abdall started to send envoys to Agordat, Asmara, Keren and Tessenei to meet with Derg officials. They pursued their meetings with the Derg officials directly and indirectly through President Numeri of Sudan. On March 22, 1986 the front accepted two cars carrying a number of weaponry from enemy forces. In addition, the front also maneuvered a number of schemes against the EPLF, including ambush attacks and planting bombs where a large number of civilians fall to be victims of those attacks. It also tried to divide the general public through religious affiliations.