Introduction
The following interview with Mohamed Taha Tewekel was originally published by Awate.com on Sep 12, 2003, at a time when Eritrean politics, regional alliances, and opposition movements were evolving rapidly.
The interview captures Tewekel’s recollections, political assessments, and personal experiences as they were expressed at the time. It reflects the atmosphere, assumptions, debates, and uncertainties of that period and should therefore be read as a historical document rather than a retrospective account.
To preserve the integrity of the original publication, only light editorial adjustments have been made for readability and consistency. The substance of the interview, the sequence of questions and answers, and the interviewee’s views have been retained.
Readers should note that some individuals discussed in the interview later assumed different political roles, while regional developments have altered the context in which many of these remarks were originally made.
This interview was conducted during a period marked by the aftermath of the Eritrea–Ethiopia war, the emergence of some organized Eritrean opposition movements in exile, and intense political realignments throughout the Horn of Africa.
The interviewee occasionally references events, organizations, and personalities without extensive explanation, reflecting the contemporary familiarity of those topics among Eritrean audiences at the time. Brief explanatory notes may be added where necessary for new readers, but the original content has not been substantively altered.
— Awate Team June 8, 2026
The following was first published on Sep 12, 2003, in English. Now it is translated into Arabic and is being republished as a reminder to new readers.
September 12, 2003
Mohammed Taha Mohammed-Nur Tewekel. A controversial and well-connected journalist whose list of acquaintances and friends includes many top government officials in the Horn of Africa region; an Eritrean who owns the Addis Ababa-based Al Khaleej Research and Studies Center with representatives in most of the countries of the region. Of late, his name has been mentioned in relation to several issues within the Eritrean opposition camp. He is a licensed journalist, but some leaders of the opposition don’t even recognize his profession. They refer to him as the “so-called journalist.” Though he had an on-and-off relationship with the PFDJ, he is now at odds with the Eritrean government… Who is Tewekel? Why is he so controversial?
Awate invited Mohammed Taha Tewekel for an interview, and he obliged: Saleh “Gadi” Johar interviewed him over the telephone.
The subject matter covered includes MT Tewekel’s deteriorating relationship with Isaias Afwerki and the PFDJ; Eritrea’s involvement in the civil wars of Sudan and Congo; diplomacy, Girma Asmerom style; journalism, Abdella Jaber style; ELF-RC and the ENA; TPLF; Herui T Bairou; Mesfin Hagos; Semere Kesete; and armed vs. peaceful struggle.
Here is the interview:
______________________________________________________
1-I will get straight to the point; who are you?
I am Mohammed Taha Mohammed-Nur Tewekel.
2-Just that! What else?
You asked me who I was and I think I am done replying to that question…
3-All right… tell me about yourself a little bit more—take me through your early life…until…?
All right. I was born in Hergigo in 1961, where my father was the imam of the local mosque and taught the Quran to the community. I studied elementary school in Hergigo, and in 1975, after Hergigo was torched … burned to the ground by the Ethiopian occupation, I joined the People’s Liberation Front [PLF, one of the splinter groups that split from the ELF. In turn, PLF itself split into two; one of its factions later emerged as the EPLF, now transformed to the PFDJ, Eritrea’s ruling party. I took short combat training and was assigned to a unit under the command of Martyr Ali Ibrahim (martyred in Massawa). I stayed under his leadership until the battle of Nackfa… My first fighting experience… it was in 1976… and I was injured in that battle and was assigned to a supply unit of the organization.
4-This is before the split of the PLF, a faction led by the late Osman Sabbe and another, the military wing led by Isaias [Afwerki]… Which group did you end up with?
I discovered there was a confusion among the senior cadres regarding the developments… It was after the Khartoum peace conference between the ELF and the PLF. Around that time… a little earlier… I had witnessed the headless bodies of Haj Idris, (Hassen Amir’s brother) and others who were ambushed by the Ethiopian army when they were going out to a guarding post—the Tor Serawit [the Ethiopian army] used to behead those they killed and carry their heads to prove the incident…
I was very much disturbed by that incident… I was devastated psychologically and wanted to leave… I just wanted to leave anyway… but after the Khartoum agreement was rejected by the field commanders… they held the Shumal Bahri conference… it so happened that I accompanied Hassen Ahmed Amir to the Shumal Bahri conference [the conference where the split within the PLF became official].
While there, I overheard Ali Ibrahim, Mohammed Ahmed Romadan and Ibrahim Tse’eduy talking about abandoning the Isaias group… and I sympathized with them in my heart. Later, when I got an opportunity to talk to them in private, I asked to join them when they leave the camp… and I told them that I overheard what they were talking about…. Once I told them that I overheard their talk, they were serious about it… you know… I had to either accompany them or somehow be silenced because I would be a risk to their safety…. They accepted me to be part of their group ….
5-Then you left—four of you?
No. They had others who were siding with them… when we set out we were 25 people and on the way we grew to 45. The confusion among the ranks of the combatants was very serious. We traveled for 16 days until we reached Alet, [the ELF political cadre school], where we met Ibrahim Toteel – we also found out that Idris Mohammed Ali… the famous singer was detained there. The ELF was holding those who were abandoning… fleeing from the PLF.
6-Were you detained?
We were not detained… but Toteel was not keen on letting us go. We were not going to give up easily either… we were well armed and a better force compared to the unarmed cadres in Alet. Then Mahmoud Hasseb, [ELF commander who was assassinated in Kassala in the late eighties] … fortunately, the late Mahmoud Hasssab played a positive role there and convinced the other leaders… including Toteel, that we should be left alone to go wherever we wanted.
7-Where did you go?
We went west and ended up in a region …. in Hashaneet and it is there that we met others who had abandoned the Shumal Bahri conference… In Hashaneet, we formed the People Liberation Front (PLF-Foreign Office). Many other combatants came from different places and joined the congress with PLF.
8-That is the PLF- or PLF-2, and where did you go after that?
It was PLF, the wing that was led by Osman Sabbe…. After the congress, I was assigned to a battalion under the command of Martyr Hassen Urdun and stayed there for a while … as a senior cadre. After that, I was sent to Iraq.
9-Why were you being sent to Iraq?
I was injured in the battle of Nackfa… I had a mortar splinter in my leg and it was hurting me… and when the opportunity arrived, I was allowed to go to Iraq for treatment…
10-And what happened in Iraq?
I was jailed.
11-What? Why?
When I was traveling to Iraq… the students union…
12-Alright… you were jailed… Why?
Hold on… when I was traveling to Iraq …I transited through Cairo. At the time, the PLF was undergoing yet another split… A group under the leadership of Osman Ajeeb split from the PLF, the part that was led by Sabbe, the organization of which I was a member….
Ajeeb’s group had Ba’athist tendencies. The Iraqiis were favoring it. In Cairo, I met with Osman Ali Shekh, then the student union leader, who gave me letters to carry to Iraq to some people… He was against Ajeeb’s moves… I didn’t know what the letters contained… but it turned out that he was against the Baathists and the Iraqis were suspicious of me and considered me part of the anti-Ba’ath movement, whom they called communists…
They found out that I carried letters from the opponents of Ajeeb group and they made a wild connection… they thought I was on a mission related to the split between the Baathists and the others in the PLF… that is why I was jailed….
After a month, Sabbe and Abubeker Mohammed Adem pleaded to the authorities, and I was released… but after some time, Omer Siraj [In the late eighties, Omer Siraj and four others met with Mengistu Hailemariam and struck a deal with the Dergue to establish self-rule in Western Eritrea], the PLF representative in Iraq, was becoming like my shadow… always bothering me and pressuring me to back to the field. I refused and joined the student union in Baghdad.
13-But you were not a student?
I enrolled in middle school… Siraj Omer, who was pressuring me to leave, was reluctant to oppose Ajeeb’s group or support Sabbe… he himself just wanted to be left alone… he had enrolled at the Mustensiryah University in Baghdad for higher education and he handed the PLF office to Ajeeb and Ali Berhatu … he became a student… the problem was that the Iraqis were clearly on Ajeeb’s side.
14-What was your position on the split, no change?
I was not that keen… I just wanted to continue my education… and in the middle of the Ajeeb vs Sabbe situation, Sabbe called me and asked me to pick some important documents from a certain office in Baghdad and told me to be careful… the Ajeeb faction should not be aware of the documents… he assigned an Iraqi man he trusted to cooperate with me… I met the Iraqi man and, together, we picked the keys and secretly went to the office and picked the needed documents … then I was instructed to carry them to Syria–and I did.
15-And you started to go to school in Syria?
Not yet… I was not lucky enough…. I was assigned to the Abu Dhabi office… deputy to the PLF representative there.
16-You didn’t go to school?
I wanted to study in Syria but I was asked to go to a new assignment and I did… and in Abu Dhabi I started night school right away…
17-You say you were planning to go to school but you ended up in politics, how is that?
It is destiny. Destiny. When I was in Abu Dhabi, there was also an incident that made me more determined to pursue education. I was alone in the office; everyone in the delegation was outside Abu Dhabi… with no experience at all… I had no diplomatic experience …. and Osman Ajeeb was assassinated in Khartoum… Reporters swarmed the PLF office and wanted to know what happened, and I did not know what to do or say. Then I came to know…. from Sabbe that some people pointed fingers at the PLF for the assassination of Ajeeb!
18-Did the PLF assasinate Ajeeb?
That is nonsense and a baseless delusion. Of course no… I was told to issue a statement denying the allegation… and…
19-By whom, who told you to issue a statement?
I was being approached by reporters and I asked Sabbe what I should do…. He told me to issue a statement… but I didn’t know how! I couldn’t write a statement then… I was just in my first year in the secondary school, night school… but Mohammed Abulkassim, a Sudanese friend of Eritrea, came to my rescue. He was an advisor in the Foreign Ministry of the Emirates, and he helped me out in preparing the statement… I issued a statement regarding the assassination of Osman Ajeeb and condemning the action… the statement was picked by the media … this attracted the attention of the media towards me… and I think that was destiny… I was pushed by destiny to journalism.
20-But you were in politics?
Yes, that was also a destiny… but I didn’t continue politics until later…
21-What happened?
I left for Qatar and that is when I started to lean towards politics…
22-Were you transferred to the PLF office in Qatar?
No. I went there for two reasons… I wanted to study but at the same time I had family problems… I wanted to support my family as well… I had to also work … at the time that I arrived in Qatar, the Qataris were recruiting police personnel… you know that Gulf States used to recruit foreign nationals in their police forces… I wanted to apply but I didn’t have a secondary school diploma and that was a requirement… I depended on Sabbe and through his help, I was admitted to the police academy …
Colonel Ali Bin Saeed AlKaebi, a dear friend of Eritrea, made my acceptance to the academy very easy… If not for him I would not have had the chance to sit for the admission test… and I did test and I passed … I was accepted, and I spent six months in the academy.
23-You liked it, did you like the job of a uniformed police officer?
I had to survive… and I know what you are hinting at… the worst remarks were coming to me from Eritreans: psychological pressure from fellow Eritreans… they were making fun of me and provoking me.. some picked on me saying, “we will assign you a guard at an Eritrean Embassy after Independence”… [a long laugh] … but anyway, I was lucky and was saved ridicule and sarcasm from my Eritrean brothers… I never wore the uniform, police.
24-You finished the training in the academy. Then what happened…?
I graduated with distinction… I was among the ten highest-scoring students… and I started a job right away. I was assigned under Colonel Ali in the department of the affairs of the liberation movements—you know affairs of the Palestinians, Afghanistan, Eritreans etc. Part of my job was to read materials… magazines, newspapers, books…. Printed materials entering Qatar.
25-Censorship?
Sort of… here I got the most important opportunity of my life – to read as much as I can and be paid for it… and I continued my correspondence education … Beirut University (and after a long period of time I finally got my diploma in journalism in 1992… thanks to the Qataris… the people I am most grateful to…) anyway, It was during this time that I established a wide network of people from the media and politics….
26-Is that when you started to write?
I started to write in 83 in Al Raya and Al Arab newspapers… also in Al Ahad magazine… all Qatari publications… I wrote under a pen name, Abu Zahra… for a long time and….
27-Why a pen name?
Because government employees were not allowed to write publicly… in 1989, I started to write using my real name and that was after I got my journalist license. I wrote for the London based AlQabas … that was also the time I interviewed President Ziad Barre of Somalia…. You see, the writing in the newspapers benefited me greatly and I was exposed to the media and the diplomatic world.
28-You just started to write and you were published just like that?
No… it was not that easy… but I worked real hard… also, I was lucky with people… I knew many people who helped me out… for instance, there are three persons I can name and I am very grateful to them… they really helped me a lot… Nasser Mohammed Osman, a Qatari, who was the editor in chief of AlRaya newspaper then… Mohammed Ahmed Awed, a Sudanese journalist and a friend and Hamid Ezzaeddin, an Egyptian friend who was the editor of AlSharq… he assigned me to the Horn of Africa news desk…
You know, there was a honorable rivalry between the Sudanese and Egyptian journalists… on who reported the news first. They endorsed my name in AlSharq newspaper …They went out of their way to help me by editing my work… correcting materials I presented and teaching me the art of journalism and reporting… I am indebted to them and others who taught me a great deal….
When I was assigned to the Horn of Africa affairs, I had made several interviews with the leaders of the EPLF then.
29-What was your major scoop from those days?
In the Eritrean side, I think the meeting of the Group-Five. Remember those who went to meet Mengistu to have a self rule region in the Western lowlands, Qolama? Remember, when they went to Asmara and then to Addis and met Mengistu? I heard the news… and it was Sunday in Ethiopia… I knew they were not going to publish it on a weekend… so I went ahead and quickly presented the news in Qatar and many newspapers quoted it and it was a major development in the region.
The second was in May of 1991 when Isaias and Melles went to London.. to a meeting attended by Cohen and General AlFateh Erwa, then the Security Chief of the Sudan – who is now the Sudanese representative to the UN in New York… I was given the news firsthand by telephone from the meeting, and it was published as special to AlSharq Newspaper. I knew people in the EPLF and TPLF and the region…. They tipped me on the developments.
30-Then you also had relations with the TPLF in those days?
I knew them long ago… I knew people in the TPLF and I was getting news before others and I was publishing it and this was useful for the TPLF since it was publicizing their activities in the Middle East region. In 1990, I traveled to Tigrai, and prepared a reportage, which appeared on the region’s newspapers. I introduced the TPLF and Tigrai to the Arab reader….
Anyway, my relations with the TPLF developed since then and some people do not know anything but to criticize… my relations with the TPLF started with the late Mohammed Jemal (who passed away a few months ago… he was an Ethiopian diplomat assigned to the Ethiopian Embassy in Cairo). I was introduced to Mohammed Jemal Abdulrazik, who was a representative of the TPLF in Abu Dhabi…. He then introduced me to all the leaders of the TPLF… many of them are top officials in different positions in the current Ethiopian government. In 1991, I was considered a major source of information regarding the Horn Of Africa… I worked hard for that and established a strong netwok of friends… an important factor in journalism… and the thing is that I didn’t have any other source as a major competition in the Horn of Africa.
31-How about your relations with EPLF or Isaias?
In 1992, I went to Eritrea accompanying 27 tonnes of medical and food aid given by the Qatari government to Eritrea…. some within the Eritrean government were not happy because the aid was not handed to Mohammed Omar Mahmoud, the Eritrean non-resident ambassador to Qatar, instead of me… Anyway, I also carried with me scholarships for 15 Eritreans to go to Qatar to train in the television station and News agency of Qatar… this was presented by the Mohammed AlKawari, Qatari minister of Information… a dear friend of Eritrea….
What I wanted was to settle in my country, Eritrea, and open a research and news office and that was my plan… when I met Isaias he asked me to work as a press advisor in his office… times change … this was the time when Dr. Dehli was in bad relations with the government and I was mediating. Anyway, I apologized to Isaias and told him that I was planning to have my own office. Strangely enough, when I returned to Qatar, I was shocked to learn that rumors were circulating there that I was offered a job with the Eritrean government and that I was going to resign … I don’t know who leaked the news but I suspect it was the Eritrean Ambassador, Mohammed Omer Mahmoud.
At any rate, I resigned my job in Qatar in 1994… but when I arrived in Eritrea, the officials who used to receive me warmly before were now very cold towards me… When I asked for a license to open a research center no one was helping… they avoided my request…. I went to Baduri and he gave me a piece of paper… sort of an authorization, and he told me that that was my press license…
I had a Qatari license… that was not what I wanted… I wanted a proper business license and not to operate as a reporter only… It was getting strange. Prior to this visit, I would come to Eritrea and would meet Isaias right away; but this time, for weeks no one was even noticing my presence… I was told of the mischief and of how the PFDJ has a habit of first humiliating people and then giving you what you ask for, but after a long period just to remind everybody that it is in charge…
Now that I resigned my job and carried my equipment and furniture to Eritrea, they though that I was at their mercy … Four months! Four months passed, and I was stuck in Asmara doing nothing…. and that is when I got to know the other face of the PFDJ, its power centers, its contradictions… the character of its elite members… and many internal issues I never knew about. Finally, I went to Ali Said to appeal and asked if he could help me get my license… he told me to see Isaias.
When I saw Isaias, his message was specific. He asked me to help the Ethiopians in the media, “we have deformed their image for thirty years,” he said. The message according to Isaias was: Eritrea is the gates of Ethiopia. I gave up on working in Eritrea; the PFDJ wanted me to become their tool.
I left for Addis Ababa. The Ethiopians welcomed me.
32-Wouldn’t the Ethiopian government want to use you as a tool as well?
I haven’t seen any pressure so far… but their attitude was different. I faced no hindrances or red tape in getting my licenses to open my office. I did my feasibility study and was soon granted a license… I opened my office.. AlKhaleej Research and News Center. You see, I was venturing into an important activity and they, unlike the Eritrean government, recognized the importance of my center to the economy and information services…
And I planned it big. The institution was supported by big names… for example the honorary president of the center was His Excellency Hassen Gouled, and the chairman of the board of directors was Ibrahim Degesh, the previous spokesman of the OAU…
33-When did this event take place?
It was in March of 1995… and the center started to operate … we were busy establishing ourselves and setting up our operations and introducing the center to the region…. And right about then, the Hanish crisis started. I was interviewed on MBC Television and I said that the language of force is unbecoming and this doesn’t elevate to the level of the neighborly people’s relations … and I criticized the way the Eritrean government handled the case… of course, my criticism was not well received by the Eritrean government… and relations further deteriorated…. And the PFDJ was angered..
34-How do you know that?
When I met Isaias subsequently, in one of the IGAD meetings, he told me, bitterly, “You are getting big Tewekel; you have started criticizing!” and I wanted to be respectful and I replied with a smile, “No problem Mr. President, a child always runs but never wins the game… it is just a reporter’s work your Excellency”…. We talked and he invited me to go to Asmara and establish my office there… Petros Solomon who was accompanying Isaias in that trip also told me that I could take my things (Things I brought from Qatar for the office I thought I would open In Asmara) from the airport and establish my office… But I had made up my mind and was not keen on the offer…
It was during this time that Isaias asked me to work in an Arabic newspaper they were setting up… it was called AlFajer and it was going to be published in London… I refused the offer… I didn’t want to give up what I had already established. The postion was then given to Yahya AlAwadhi, a Sudanese writer who was editing the newspaper… The job in the newspaper was offered to me by both the PFDJ and the EPRDF [Ethiopian ruling party]. Isaias had ambitious plans for the newspaper, AlFajr… He told me, “we will make it better than AlHayat!” [one of the elite and prestigious Arabic dailies published in London].
35-Wait a minute, what do you mean both Eritrean and Ethiopian governments asked you to work for the newspaper?
It was a joint project… and it was meant to address the population of our region, specifically the Arabic reading population… they had both agreed to fund it jointly …. The budget was set at 1.5 million pound sterling… 750,000 each…. Anyway the newspaper was there for a short period and it was later closed…
36-You didn’t accept Isaias’ offer but nevertheless you worked in AlFajr, didn’t you?
Yes, I did… in a different capacity… I represented the Ethiopian share… I was representing their share in the newspaper… the editorial aspects of the newspaper were given to four of us… three Sudanese nationals and myself … we were the editorial board. The project head was Abdella Jabir [PFDJ Head of Organizational Affairs]… in charge of political and administrative issues. Dr. Dehli was in charge of the financial issues. From the beginning, we had differences… we clashed from the beginning when we started to set the editorial plans… the strategy and the contents of newspaper.
Abdella Jabir acted like a military commander… he told us that we were simply employees who should execute what we were ordered… you can’t work like that in a newspaper. It was getting bad and I had to complain to Isaias… but no solution was offered… he simply said that Abdella Jabir was in charge of the newspaper.
37-What were the main problems for your clashes, would you give me an example?
His vision for the newspaper was…. I din’t agree with it. I said that a newspaper should not be perceived as solely dedicated to insult the intelligence of its readers… Abdella Jabir was bent on using the newspaper to support the Sudanese opposition and provoke the Sudanese government… I was against meddling in the Sudanese internal affairs, I objected to that approach. We don’t need enemies! I even told him that the number of Sudanese graduates is more than the Eritrean population … and that Eritrean interests would not be served by meddling in the internal affairs of the Sudan.
38-Was the interference in the internal problems of the Sudan the main problem in the Newspaper?
There were other issues. For example, he wanted a picture of Isaias on the front page of the first issue… I objected to that… but that is what appeared.
I was handling the Ethiopian share and for the first issue from the Ethiopian side, the newspaper carried issues related to the Arab-Ethiopian relations from the historical aspect and the potential for the future, etc. The Eritrean contribution of the newspaper carried writings praising Isaias and glorifying the PFDJ… For example, Yehya Al Awdhi, who later became the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, was carried away in his praise of Isaias… it was a joke… in his praise, he wrote explaining the second name of Isaias meant… he explained that Afwerki means “A Mouth Of Gold,” he wrote…. It was just very embarrassing to see such articles in a newspaper that was supposed to rival Al Hayat, according to Isaias…. I believed that the newspaper was simply there to promote John Garang against the Sudanese government… on top of glorifying the PFDJ and Isaias.
39-Was that one of the reasons that Sadiq Al Mahdi [Sudanese opposition figure] was angry with you?
You know the story?
40-I sometimes hear little news… would you tell me the story?
When Sadiq Al Mahdi escaped to Eritrea, I had said that he did not serve his cause well by going to Eritrea… because politically speaking, there was no advantage that he would gain from Eritrea. Later, Petros Solomon asked me to write a political report on Al Mahdi and analyze his position in Sudanese politics… I wrote a report and gave it to Petros Solomon…. somehow, the report that was supposed to be a confidential document prepared for the government, reached Sadiq Al Mahdi. And he was angered. I understand his anger… but then he went on to accuse me of being an agent of the National Islamic Front [Al Turabi’s front].
41-How did a supposedly confidential document reach him?
A certain diplomat leaked it to him — I don’t want to mention the diplomat’s name because as far as I am concerned it is settled and I forgave him for his action… but there was also the issue of Kurmuk [a Sudanese town taken by John Garang’s forces]… I had sneaked through the Ethiopian boundary to Kurmuk in the Sudan with a colleague, a reporter, and I reported about the fall of the town to the forces of John Garang. The story received wide coverage; it was published in the whole region. That report made matters worse [in my relationship with PFDJ.] I had also reported that well-armed Eritrean forces were fighting alongside John Garang’s forces in Kurmuk and that their presence was decisive in the victory of Garang’s forces…
42-How did you know they were Eritreans?
What? Can’t I tell an Eritrean soldier from others? I met them and I spoke with many of them… after covering the events in Kurmuk which fell to Garang’s forces, I returned to Ethiopia through the same border but I and my colleague were arrested in the Ethiopian town of Assosa for violating the border and crossing without permission. Later, we were released. A journalist lands in many unexpected problems….
43-What happened to the Eritrean forces then?
Well. The project was going on… of course you remember Clinton’s African Renaissance leaders etc… the regional allies were executing the project of encircling the Sudan to bring down the Turabi’s NIF. The tripartite alliance was supported by the USA … the three countries… Eritrea, Ethiopia and Uganda… Eritrea was aspiring to become a regional power and was overly zealous compared to Ethiopia and Uganda… after Kurmuk, around 1500 Eritrean troops and their tanks rolled to Congo and helped unseat Mobutu Sese Seko and brought Kabilla to power…
44-What did Eritrea get in exchange?
Probably Haile Menkerios could explain this in more detail and reliable knowledge. He was the envoy to the region…. there was wealth in the region and many interests were involved… gold, diamonds and wealth of all sorts…. Many companies were racing to get their share … and all the trucks that were transporting the aid to the region and other materials were Eritrean trucks… a lot of Eritrean trucks went to Congo via Kenya and Uganda and worked there for along time… millions of dollars was gained in the operation… a mine in Kisingania was offered to the PFDJ… this was the cause for the rift between Eritrea and Uganda… Museveni thought Eritrea was getting more than it deserved…. He thought the Eritreans were getting big shares…. The PFDJ made a lot of money…
45-Alright. Lets, go back… Sadiq AlMahdi was angered by your reports about him, but then it is said that you were involved in his meeting with AlBashir, how did that happen if you were not in his favorite list?
You see, the Sudanese are not bad people. They reconcile and they don’t keep hate in their hearts for too long. We reconciled when I met him in one of the IGAD meetings. We reconciled to the extent that I arranged a secret meeting between him and president Al Bashir… for political reasones, they both refused to meet publicly… I arranged a meeting for the two in Djibouti and they met there… I accompanied Sadiq Al Mahdi from Addis to the meeting in Djibouti.
46-You never went to Asmara after all these high profile activities?
Last time I left Asmara was in May 1997 and never went back.
47-Why haven’t you gone back again?
I fled out of Asmara. The first time I escaped was a few years earlier when some news that the government didn’t like was published in AlQudus Newspaper in London. The editor erred in putting my name in the byline. He apologized publicly for that mistake and wrote a letter explaining the error… that my name had appeared in the news by mistake… but the government gave me hard time and I had to escape. I went back when the issue was settled….
But the second escape was for good. Under the auspices of the Eritrean Government, the Israeli Deputy Intelligence Chief held a meeting in Asmara with the Sudanese opposition leaders and visited their camps in Western Eritrea. I sent the news to be published. The news was not supposed to carry my name… There was also an American delegation in town to attend a dinner party honoring the delegation in the American Embassy, a party which was also attended by an ambassador from an Arab country.
It was all related to the [Israeli] intelligence officer meeting the Sudanese opposition… The Israeli intelligence officer visited the Sudanese border and Sawa… General Abdulazzis Khalid of the Sudanese opposition was in Sawa and the other opposition forces were in Haikota and the New Sudanese Brigade–so called because it was formed of Sudanese combatants from all parts of Sudan unlike the other regionally-based opposition forces–under the command of a person by the name of Fagan (who is now the Secretary General of what is known as Al Tejemou AlWeteni AlSudani AlMwahad) had been formed in Asmara in December 1995.
This news was supposed to be published under a pen name in the newspaper. But they made a mistake and published my real name in the byline. The next day, late morning, I was tipped by a confidante that a copy of the newspaper had already been faxed and had arrived in Asmara from London. I had to rush before the security people could get a hold of it and certainly jail me. I had to escape to save my life. I took my car and drove as fast as I could towards Zalambessa [border town] and from there I took a plane to Addis and never went back after that.
48-Why would you think they would arrest you, maybe they wouldn’t have?
I was sure the PFDJ would certainly not like the news and would have arrested me right away. That is why I had asked the newspaper to put a pen name… and they messed up things… If I hadn’t left, they would have arrested me… I am sure. This was during the time when Isaias was very sensitive about news getting out of Asmara with what he was planning… it was a time when they arrested Ruth Simon [Eritrean journalist working for AFP] because she reported a small news item … and others were jailed…
49-You never met PFDJ leaders after that?
I did. The relations were a bit weak but they were there … I met Isaias in Djibouti… it was just before the border war. I knew things were not good when Isaias shook hands with Arap Moi [of Kenya] and Hassen Gouled [of Djibouti] but didn’t shake hands with Melles… they ignored each other. There there were four heads of state–Museveni and AlBeshir were not there; they were represented by their deputies. Anyway, after the meetings I asked to see Isaias… Yemane Gebremeskel [President’s spokesperson] told me that the President was angry with me and that I should keep quite and listen…
I shook my head and went to where Isaias was. I found him by the swimming pool. And when I approached him, I could tell his anger from his facial expression. First, he tried to ignore me. I pulled a chair and sat close to him. We started to talk and finally he asked me to go to Asmara with him in his plane. I apologized and said that I had some work to attend to and that I had to return to Addis Ababa… I could see his displeasure… he said to me. “why don’t you name yourself Mohammed Addis instead of Mohammed Tewekel!” I told him there was no reason for him to be angry. I told him that when I asked for a license to operate from Eritrea he refused to give it to me and that I struggled and tried to make something of myself and my country in my country and that he, instead of helping and encouraging me, was hindering me and I had to go and open my office in Ethiopia where they gave me all the support I needed… and that he shouldn’t be angry about that. He shook his head and we had some talk and I left the hotel.
50-Why didn’t you go to Asmara if the President was trying to reconcile?
No, I lost trust in the PFDJ long ago. After the meeting, in the evening, they had a dinner party in honor of president Isaias in Ambassadotr Daniel’s residence, the Eritreran Ambassador. And I observed the expressions there. A diplomat–I don’t want to mention his name–told me that Isaias told Wedi Kassa, [Abraha Kassa, the security chief of the Eritrean government] “ezi wedi sedi Koynu alo… sne serAt amherwo” [this boy is misbehaving, teach him manners]…
Knowing their attitudes, how would I go to Asmara?
51-During the [Eritrea-Ethiopia] war, you reported from Addis Ababa. Some people say you were airing the Ethiopian views… or at least the Ethiopian side of the story?
Never. I never reported during the war… I analyzed the political situation as any political analyst would… I even apologized to Al Jezeera TV and refused to report during the war … just because of the sensitivity of the issue.
You see, before the war, I reported that the Eritrean government had acquired equipment and armaments and the Ethiopians were angry saying that my reports were hurting the morale of the Ethiopian soldiers… I didn’t report during the war… I heard about the starting of the war when I was in Somaliland… you know, I have seen it…. the Ethiopian suspicion and the Eritrean mischief made me decide to treat the news as any reporter would, regardless… that is my profession and I cannot help it.
52-But you were not exactly silent during the war?
Yes, as I told you, when I was asked for my views as an analyst, I would give it … and not report news. I was aware of a radical group within the TPLF that was bent on escalating the situation. I advised those I met from the Eritrean side to be aware of the dangers of military clashes. But they were intoxicated with the feeling of triumph… the verbal abuse against each other was getting nastier by the day… they seemed not to imagine what would happen to the country and the region if war broke out … I had warned of the situation and made my views public in a four-series article in Addis Zemen… the officials were acting irresponsibly…
For example, I once met Girma Asmerom [then Eritrean ambassador to Ethiopia; now ambassador to the United States] in Addis just before the war and he approached me talking loudly. An exaggerated noisy welcome. He hugged me just to show up some Ethiopian officials who were around… As he hugged me, he whispered to me “let me hug you so that they would think you are our agent and deport you”… I just smiled and let him go… such childish behavior shows you how some Eritrean diplomats behaved themselves in diplomatic circles…. that didn’t help the situation at all.
53-What are your relations with the Eritrean opposition forces?
I came to know most of the opposition members in 2002 when they came to Addis Ababa. I would meet them just like any Eritrean meeting other Eritreans in other places. I invited them to my house and we had coffee and normal social interaction with them… on purely personal basis…
54-You mean you were not some sort of link with the Ethiopians?
Never. I don’t have anything to do with their relation. They came to Ethiopia and, as a journalist, I follow what any political organization or government is doing. From a journalistic point of view. My relations with Ethiopia is just like my relations with other countries in region… Sudan, Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia… and, in the past, Eritrea. I live in Ethiopia with a license of a journalist and I have an office, a business… and I carry neither an Ethiopian passport nor an Eritrean one.
55-What passport do you carry?
I carry a passport… That is all I can say.
56- Alright, tell me what is the reason for your problems with some of the opposition?
Let us identify it… I know of two minor problems…one who went public and stated his perceived problems with me is Seyoum Ogbamichael [chairman of ELF-RC/Frankfurt]. I never met Seyoum before but once, when my name was raised in his presence, I heard he exclaimed: “Do we have an Eritrean named Tewekel?” When I heard of that comment, I found it tasteless …. Days later, when they introduced me to him, I asked: “do we have an Eritrean named Seyoum?” That didn’t help our relations because it started negatively… unintentionally perhaps.
Then he wrote an official statement and published it in the Internet… from the Chairman’s Office, publicly hinting accusations against me in a statement full of indirect messages. I preferred to avoid the innuendos. I replied to him with respect… for the office that he holds.
As far as the politics of the RC is concerned, I was invited to their conference in Gonder and the main thing that I didn’t like was that Seyoum came as a result of a crooked logic that says ‘Moslems had led the organization for forty years and it is time that a Christian should lead it!’… I found the rationale a dangerous precedent and a very weak reasoning…
57-And you mediated Herui’s travel to Addis, right?
Not true. I attended the Kassel Festival last year (2002) and then I went to Sweden. There, I attended a show: a show by an Eritrean artist. I was asked to make a small speech at the show and as I was speaking, I saw Herui in front of me in the public… I mentioned his name in the context of the opposition activities and my view of what he was doing. Later on, we met and spoke just like I would with anyone else… he had told me that he had met with the Alliance and that he was having serious discussions… that some leaders wanted him to join the Alliance… he didn’t tell me of his plans or his travel to Ethiopia…
When I returned to Addis Ababa, I saw him like all the rest… including the opposition members themselves. Of course, I met him because we came to know each other. Moreover, he was, unlike the other opposition figures who had offices and organizations in Addis, without any support mechanism. I offered him rides and was there to help if he needed anything that I could do. This applies to anyone I came to know. As far as reporting his activities are concerned, I am a journalist and I follow the developments… it is my job…. How does awate.com know of news and other developments… once you are in journalism, you know how it is. I didn’t mediate his going to Addis.
58-The rumors are that you carried a message to him from the Ethiopian government?
Well, it is not true and if anyone can prove that, let him come to the open and prove it… and if Herui has a letter, let him publish it.
59-But you were very close with Herui when he arrived to Addis and was elected as a secretary general of the ENA… you mean you didn’t know how it happened?
Yes I was and Herui’s election became a major issue with some members of the opposition. If you are hinting at the election issue, let me tell you this: let’s assume I sympathized with Herui and I like him. But don’t forget that I don’t have voting rights in the alliance and those who had voting rights and were members of the Secretariat should talk because Herui was admitted to the alliance before the voting started. I am sorry some people didn’t like his election. Those who have voting rights should have made this clear before the voting date approached. I will save you a question: I don’t think there was anyone who dictated Herui’s election. But as a journalist, I heard news that some members of the Alliance had reservations on some of the other candidates… reservations like on the candidacy. For example, their acceptance by the regional governments, their stand on democratic rights and their stand on language and land issues were the main considerations and qualifiers for the nominees in the talks about the election. As far as Seyoum is concerned, those who were lobbying for him were those who were not elected in the RC congress in Gonder and were not influential within the RC let alone in the Alliance.
60-Let’s go back to your problems with the ENA. Tell me the second problem you mentioned.
Some of them think I support Mesfin Hagos and Semere Kesete… and lately they have been weaving rumors that I support a faction of the RC….there are even leaders who sent written formal complaints against me to neighboring governments.
61-Would you be specific, which government?
I can only say that they complained to a government… one among the three regional governments [Yemen-Ethiopia-Sudan Axis?]
62-Why can’t you say which government? Was it Ethiopia or…?
Take a pick… make a choice… it is all in vain… they helplessly tried to establish a tie between the EPLF-DP and MDC on one hand and the PFDJ on the other and then tried to create a scenario to implicate me in the process….
63-Then tell me about your ties with both the EPLF-DP and MDC, what type of relations do you have with these two organizations… and with other organizations?
Generally, Mesfin Hagos was in Eritrea until recently and I respect him for his history and because he rejected the system when he was a top official who would have simply kept quiet and enjoyed his life in Eritrea; he was not selfish; and he deserves respect… I met and talked to him.
And Semere [Kesete], too. They both have enlightened views which I believe hastens the downfall of the regime in Eritrea and in Semere… I see energy and the future in him. All his collegues are energetic and young… by the way, Semere is the only person from the opposition who actually lived with me in my house. And he is so well behaved and humble… he became part of our family and I really like him… despite his young age… he is very wise and humble… it is also important that he doesn’t belong to the Jebha Shaebya rivalry… and I thought he is well placed to be the link between the old and the young in the opposition.. and then I am an Eritrean… I have a stake in what is going on in my country and that is my right and obligation… I have an interst as an Eritrean and another as a journalist… and I will be involved in any activity of my choice.
How about yourself, don’t you identify yourself with the opposition? Do you just air news, like a foreigner, without considering the interest of Eritrea… when you advise people or write something? Do you?
64-I am asking the questions this time and you agreed to that; let’s go on … do you work for the PFDJ?
[Laughs] Those who complained accuse me of that. You see, we Eritreans need to learn a lot. I visited Abdu Qassim who was elected president in the Arta’a Somali reconciliation congress, even though he is not recognized by Ethiopia. I visited him. The Ethiopians said nothing about my visit or my visiting him. On the other hand, when Ali Said [Eritrea’s Foreign Minister] met me in Djibouti he told me that I don’t defend my country [Eritrea] and I defend Somalia… he said it in a patronizing way….
Of course, the countries deal with me as a journalist and I do not deny my relations with the governments… and exposing news is my profession and it is my right as a journalist and, furthermore, my relations with these governments and countries predates the Alliance or the Ethio-Eritrean border war… That might be a cause for problems with some individuals and leaders… but to come to your question, I don’t have any relations with the PFDJ.
65-Do you offer advice to the Ethiopian government regarding Eritrea?
[A big laugh] You mean I know Eritrean politics and government more than the TPLF and they would need my advice on that! They have been together for years… they worked together for years and they know each other better than anyone else, at the personal level, forget about the political level and other regional issues. If asked, what I would say would never be against my country… my guiding principle in anything I do is the consideration to Eritrean interests… not to groups or individuals.
66-What is your evaluation of the ENA?
In short, if we Eritreans are unable to sit together and solve issues related to power sharing, programs, etc… we are heading to the fate of Somalia. The ELF claimed the Eritrean field cannot accommodate another organization and it was finished. The PFDJ is repeating the same notion and it will certainly evaporate…
We have to accept coexistence… our situation is odd… we are the only country where the opposition doesn’t recognize the government and the government doesn’t recognize the opposition… we face serious risks: if the ENA is pushed to Eritrea by force, it will not be different than the PFDJ…
The opposition in general doesn’t recognize the constitution and this is a grave mistake… of course, there are many shortcomings in the constitution but a constitution is a means of struggle… we should struggle to implement the constitution and then try to improve it… it is a process and we can perfect it on the process… at least the constitution contains guarantees for basic rights… and there is not country or international organization that would respect you if you don’t have a constitution and you move without a compass… the days of the liberation war is over and we now have a state… it is different.
67-Do you think the PFDJ might reconcile with the neighboring countries?
Impossible… their differences have taken a personal angle… Isaias takes things personal and the neighboring countries agreed not to deal with the system and it is being eaten up from the inside and it will crumble and fall.
68-What about the military struggle?
We don’t need it… I think the opposition should adapt a peaceful and diplomatic means of struggle… and it has to narrow the gap between the opposition and the people… military action has no benefit and any citizen can now adapt the demands that armed opposition is adapting… there is no point in carrying guns and bloodshed when you can do it peacefully….
At the end of the day, the Eritrean army is our national army… we must depend on it as an institution to safeguard the constitution and the nation….every opposition group should try to win by influencing the army and not confronting it….
One day, there will certainly be an uprising.
Thank you
______
Endnotes
- PLF (Popular Liberation Forces) — One of the organizations that emerged from splits within the Eritrean liberation movement during the 1970s.
- EPLF (Eritrean People’s Liberation Front) — The movement that led Eritrea to de facto independence in 1991 and later became the ruling political organization.
- PFDJ (People’s Front for Democracy and Justice) — Eritrea’s ruling political organization, established in 1994 as the successor to the EPLF.
- Osman Saleh Sabbe — Prominent Eritrean nationalist leader and influential figure in the liberation struggle.
- Hanish Islands Crisis (1995) — Territorial dispute between Eritrea and Yemen that later went to international arbitration.
- IGAD — Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a regional organization of countries in the Horn of Africa and East Africa.
- Meles Zenawi — Leader of the TPLF and later Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
- John Garang — Leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).
- Mobutu Sese Seko — President of Zaire (later the Democratic Republic of the Congo) until 1997.
- African Renaissance Leaders — A term frequently used during the 1990s for a group of African leaders viewed by Western governments as representatives of a new political generation.
