Mr. Hummed Kulu, who was chargé d’affaires in the Eritrean embassy in Syria, has abandoned the PFDJ government and applied for asylum in the United Kingdom.

He had been stationed in Syria for nearly six years.

With his request for political asylum, Hummed Kulu joins dozens of PFDJ officials, athletes, musicians, and journalists who have disassociated themselves from the Eritrean regime over the last six years.

Background

After Eritrea secured its independence 1991, the leaders of several exiled political organizations were faced with a hard choice: to return to Eritrea, as individuals, or to remain exiled, as a group.

The Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), the Eritrean Liberation Front-Revolutionary Council (ELF-RC), Sagem, Islamist groups and others refused to dissolve their organizations and have remained exiled. But the ELF-United Organization (ELF-UO, or A'Tenzim AlMuwahad), of which Hummed Mohammed Saeed Kulu was a member, did return.

ELF-UO

The ELF-UO was formed in a meeting held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Dec 23, 1982.

The organization was formed shortly after the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) was pushed out of Eritrea by a combined assault, jointly carried by Eritrean Peoples' Liberation Front (led by Isaias Afwerki) and Tigrai Peoples' Liberation Front (led by Meles Zenawi).

Three political forces--the ELF segment headed by Abdella Idris;  the ELF-Peoples' Liberation Forces led by Osman Sabbe, and PLF-Revolutionary Comiittee, an offshoot of PLF led By Abubeker Mohammed Jim'e--formed an organization called A'Tenzim AlMuwahad (United Organization.)  A short while later, Mohammed Saeed Nawd joined the UO with a small group. The ELF withdrew from the alliance shortly after its formation.

Several meetings were held in an attempt to unite the Eritrean organizations, including a meeting that was hosted by the Yemeni president, Ali Abdella Saleh.  But they were not successful.

In 1992, Mr. Omar Mohammed Buruj, then the leader of ELF-UO, called on his membership to dissolve itself and return to Eritrea. He argued that Eritrean independence had been achieved and the new government should be given the benefit of doubt even by those who had concerns that their issues would lose out.

A year later, almost 400 individuals including Saleh Iyay, Mahmoud Saeed Nawud, Ali Berhatu, Saleh Hummeday, Zeru B’eedu, Ali Mohammed Saleh, Ali Ishak, Abubeker Mohammed Jem'e and many senior cadres of many organizations heeded the call and returned to Eritrea—mostly from Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

The returnees included an armed ELF-UO battalion that was stationed inside Eritrea who, in a colorful celebration, joined the fold and marched to Asmara.

The properties of the ELF-UO, including ships, offices in Middle Eastern countries and cash in banks, were turned over to the PFDJ government.

Since then, many of the leadership of ELF-UO and other small organizations have returned to exile while others were relegated to insignificant roles insde Eritrea. Omar Mohammed Buruj died in London several months ago after living exiled in Rome for many years; Saleh Iyay died in Saudi Arabia two years ago; Dr. Osman Mohammed Abubaker rejoined the opposition group in exile; Ali Mohammed Saleh was jailed for many years.

None of their party platforms—making Tigrigna and Arabic the official languages; returning land to its owners; having a multi-party country under the supremacy of a national constitution, returning the Eritrean refugees in Sudan—were adopted.