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Gedab News
Mr. Abdulkader Hamdan, the publisher of “Voice of Eritrea” journal, has arrived in Asmara to provide a report and a proposal on how to infiltrate Eritrean opposition groups using “independent” organizations. Mr. Mahmud Kidan, Eritrea’s General Consul to Germany, is said to have prepared the comprehensive report. (Background on both individuals follows this report.) According to our sources, Mr. Abdulkader Hamdan has been given a budget of USD 300,000 to host an event for Middle Eastern and European journalists in Asmara. The event is intended to change the negative image of the Eritrean government to the reporters and thus their audience. The government of Eritrea is under intense pressure from the European Union and the United States to open a dialogue with Eritrean opposition groups. Beginning with last year’s exploratory outreach by Mr. Zemehret Yohannes, then the government’s Acting Minister of Information, to the recent address about “unity” by Mr. Yemane Gebreab, the ruling party’s political director, the government has been taking preliminary steps to reach out to “moderate” individuals who have been mildly critical of the party’s governance but are not “under the control of the Weyane.” According to our source, the government is “using the same method perfected by the Weyane [Ethiopian government] in co-opting and creating its own opposition.” Background: Mr. Mahmud Kidan is a veteran combatant who began his service in urban operations (Fedayeen.) He was arrested by the Haile Selasse regime and was given a life sentence. In 1974, when the Derg came to power, it retried the cases of many of those who had received the “Alem Beqan” (life sentence) judgment, and he was released. Subsequently, he rejoined the ELF. After the ELF disintegrated, he was in the leadership of one of the splinter groups, United Organization (ELF-UO.) After independence, when the Eritrean government invited the opposition groups to dissolve their organizations and enter Eritrea as individuals, the leadership of UO, which included Mr. Mahmud Kidan, Mr. Omar Buruj, Mr. Osman Mohammed Abubaker (now with the Alliance) and Mr. Mohammed Said Nawud (founder of the 1950’s Haraka movement) returned to Eritrea and were given mid-level positions within the government. Mr. Mahmud Kidan was assigned to the Eritrean mission in Sweden and is now the Consul General to the Eritrean embassy in Germany and is said to have extensive knowledge of Eritrean and Ethiopian opposition figures. Mr. Abdulkader Hamdan was the publisher of the “Voice of Eritrea” journal, which was one of the few voices of the opposition until 1997. In 2000, he was recruited by Mr. Alamin Mohammed Said, the ruling party’s Secretary, who funded "Voice of Eritrea" and helped its circulation by providing it access to government offices inside and outside Eritrea. Subsequently, Mr. Hamdan emerged as a strong proponent of the government and a vociferous critic of the opposition. Mr. Abdulkader Hamdan now represents the government within the Sudanese opposition groups and reports his activities to Mr. Abdella Jaber, who heads the ruling party’s organizational affairs. |
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