I Didn't Do It for You

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I Didn't Do It for You Page 42

by Michela Wrong


  4 Author’s interview

  5 The three Soviet advisers were released in March 1991, after Moscow acceded to EPLF demands that it remove its ships from the Dahlak Islands and stop airlifting supplies to Asmara. Interpreter Alexander Kuvaldin, who now lives in Minsk, told me he spent his time in captivity giving EPLF fighters English lessons and teaching them how to drink shots ‘Russian-style’. Being held prisoner had left him with some psychological problems, he said, ‘but when I look back I don’t remember any bad things from that time’.

  6 Author’s interview

  7 For a detailed account of the Ethiopian army’s failings in this period, see Gebru Tareke, ‘From Af Abet to Shire: the Defeat and Demise of Ethiopia’s Red Army 1988–89’, Journal of Modern African Studies, vol 42, 2, June 2004

  8 Harold G Marcus, A History of Ethiopia, University of California Press, 1994, p 213

  9 Author’s interview

  10 Author’s interview. Varennikov later took part in the abortive August 1991 attempt to unseat Gorbachev. Exonerated for his role in the attempted coup, he has now entered Russian politics

  11 The Falasha episode, and the ultimately unsuccessful US attempt to broker a peace agreement between Mengistu and the EPLF and TPLF, is recounted in Herman J Cohen’s Intervening in Africa: Peacemaking in a Troubled Continent, Palgrave, New York, 2000

  12 Alex de Waal, Evil Days, Human Rights Watch, September 1991. In late 1989, Washington Jewish Week published a leaked US Congressional staff memo confirming that 100 cluster bombs had been supplied to the Ethiopians in late 1989

  13 In May 2001, Russia President Vladimir Putin agreed to cancel 80 per cent of Ethiopia’s outstanding debts and said the balance would be rescheduled through the Paris Club

  14 The Promised Land proved a mixed experience for the Falashas. Shunted into isolated development towns in Israel, many ended up doing menial jobs. The community complains that its members are discriminated against because of its skin colour and are regarded as second-class Jews. In January 1996, the discovery that their blood donations were being routinely thrown away because of AIDS contamination fears triggered a wave of Falasha rioting. Nevertheless, the Israeli and Ethiopian governments agreed in January 2004 to complete the repatriation of Ethiopia’s remaining Falashas

  15 Author’s interview

  16 16 Interview on ‘The World at One’, BBC Radio 4, June 4, 1991

  Chapter 17 A Village of No Interest

  1 Author’s interview

  2 Paul Henze, Eritrea’s War, Shama Books, 2001, p 24

  3 Dan Connell, Against All Odds–A Chronicle of the Eritrean Revolution, The Red Sea Press, 1997, p 272

  4 Shabia means ‘the masses’ in Tigrinya, while Woyane translates as ‘popularly-based’. Depending on context and tone, the terms can be either matey or insulting, rather like the ‘Yank’ Britons use to refer to Americans or the ‘Pom’ Australians apply to Britons

  5 Eritrea has since admitted that Bezabeh Petros died in custody

  6 Patrick Gilkes and Martin Plaut, ‘War in the Horn. The Conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia’, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1999, p 22

  7 Amnesty International: ‘Ethiopia/Eritrea. Amnesty International witness cruelty of mass deportations’, January 29, 1999; ‘Ethiopia and Eritrea: Human rights issues in a year of conflict’, May 21, 1999; Human Rights Watch: ‘The Horn of Africa War: Mass Expulsions and the Nationality Issue’ June 1998–April 2002

  8 Author’s interview

  9 On November 25, 2004, as this book was going to press, Ethiopia appeared to soften its position, saying it accepted the boundary commission finding, however ‘illegal and unjust’. But Prime Minister Meles Zenawi stressed the acceptance was ‘in principle’ and Ethiopia expected ‘give and take’ in implementation, suggesting his country has yet to recognise the binding nature of the border ruling.

  10 Britain, for example, said in February 2004 that it would triple its bilateral aid to Ethiopia to £53m. Announcing the rise, Hillary Benn, international development secretary, specifically ruled out using the aid as a way of pressurizing Addis into accepting the boundary ruling, saying London hoped the stalemate could be resolved through dialogue

  11 One notable example is Dan Connell, a journalist who covered the EPLF liberation campaign in impressive detail. ‘Enough! A Critique of Eritrea’s Post-Liberation Politics’, presented at African Studies Association in Boston in November 2003, summarized his disquiet over events

  Chapter 18 ‘It’s good to be normal’

  1 For more details of the manqa episode, see David Pool, From Guerrillas to Government–The Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, James Currey, 2001. Two years later, Isaias faced another challenge by a group of Christian highlanders pushing for greater democratic accountability. Over a dozen members of the ‘rightist movement’, as it was known, were executed. Like the manqa affair, the episode has been air-brushed out of the leadership’s memories of this period

  2 David Strickland and Thomas Bowidowicz, two Americans working at Kagnew, were kidnapped in September 1975 by the ELF, which threatened to kill them unless the US halted arms supplies to Ethiopia and closed Kagnew. They were subsequently released

  Other Sources

  Bamford, James–The Puzzle Palace, Penguin, 1983

  Bereket, Habte Selassie–Eritrea and the United Nations, The Red Sea Press, 1989

  Connell, Dan–Conversations with Eritrean Political Prisoners, The Red Sea Press, 2005

  Duncan, W Raymond and Ekedahl, Carolym McGiffert–Moscow and the Third World under Gorbachev, Westview Press, 1990

  Erlich, Haggai–The Struggle Over Eritrea 1962–1978, Hoover Institution Press, 1983

  ESFA–The Federal Case of Eritrea with Ethiopia, Mogadishu, 1979

  Gandar Dower, Kenneth–Abyssinian Patchwork, An Anthology, Frederick Muller Ltd, 1949

  Goodman, Melvin–Gorbachev’s Retreat, Praeger Publishers, 1991

  Harding, Jeremy–Small Wars, Small Mercies: Journeys in Africa’s Disputed Nations, Viking, 1993

  Henze, Paul B–Horn of Africa: From War to Peace, Macmillan, 1991

  Henze, Paul B–‘Arming the Horn 1960–1980’, Wilson Centre Working Paper No 43, Washington DC, Smithsonian Institution, December 1982

  Killion, Tom–Historical Dictionary of Eritrea, Scarecrow Press, 1998

  Lefebvre, Jeffrey–Arms for the Horn: US Security Policy in Ethiopia and Somalia 1953–1991, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991

  Levine, Donald–Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multi-Ethnic Society, University of Chicago Press, 1974

  Lewis, Jon (editor)–The Mammoth Book of Battles: The Art and Science of Modern Warfare, Robinson Publishing, 1995

  Longrigg, Stephen–A Short History of Eritrea, Clarendon Press, 1945

  Luard, Evan–A History of the United Nations. Volume 2 The Age of Decolonisation 1955–1965, The Macmillan Press Ltd, 1989

  Lyons, Terrence–‘The United States and Ethiopia: The Politics of a Patron–Client Relationship’, Northeast African Studies Volume 8, Numbers 2–3, 1986

  Mack Smith, Denis–Italy, A Modern History, University of Michigan Press, 1969

  Mack Smith, Denis–Mussolini, Granada, 1981

  Mack Smith, Denis–Mussolini’s Roman Empire, Longman, 1976

  Martini, Ferdinando–L’Eritrea Economica, Istituto Geografico de Agostini, 1913

  McGiffert Ekedahl, Carolym and Goodman, Melvin–The Wars of Eduard Shevardnadze, C. Hurst and Co, 1997

  Mockler, Anthony–Haile Selassie’s War: The Italian–Ethiopian Campaign 1935–1941, Random House, 1984

  Negash, Tekeste and Tronvoll, Kjetil–Brothers at War: Making Sense of the Eritrean–Ethiopian War, James Currey Ltd, 2000

  Negassi, Amina Habte–‘The Massacre of Besik-Dira and Ona’, University of Asmara, Department of History, July 2001

  Ottaway, Marina–Soviet and American Influence in the Horn of Africa, Praeger Publishers, 1982

  Pankhurst, E. Sylvia
and Pankhurst, Richard–Ethiopia and Eritrea: the last phase of the Reunion Struggle 1941–1952, The Walthamstow Press Ltd, 1953

  Pateman, Roy–Eritrea: Even the Stones are Burning, The Red Sea Press, 1988

  Prouty, Chris and Rosenfeld, Eugene–Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia and Eritrea, Scarecrow Press, 1993

  Pugh, Martin–The Pankhursts, Penguin, 2001

  Romandini, Massimo–Visita a Dogali, L’Universo LXI 3, 1981

  Romandini, Massimo–Le Comunicazioni Stradali, Ferroviarie e Marittime dell’Eritrea durante il Governatorato Martini, Africa (Rivista Trimestrale di Studi e Documentazion dell’Istituto Italo-Africano), Anno XXXVIII–No 1

  Sbacchi, Alberto–Legacy of Bitterness, Ethiopia and Fascist Italy, 1935–1941, The Red Sea Press, 1997

  Segre, Vittorio–La guerra privata di tenente Guillet, TEA, 1997

  Tesfagiorgis, Abeba–A Painful Season and a Stubbon Hope: The Odyssey of an Eritrean Mother, The Red Sea Press, 1992

  Ullendorff, Edward–The Ethiopians, Oxford University Press, 1965

  Acknowledgements

  Discretion is a quality dear to Eritreans. Few, I know, would want to be publicly thanked in these pages. But those who welcomed me into their homes, accompanied me on my trips, pointed me in interesting directions and alerted me to my errors know who they are. I am enormously grateful.

  Apart from my editor, Mitzi Angel, and literary agents Pat Kavanagh and Joy Harris, I owe special thanks to Clive Priddle, who originally commissioned the book and maintained his interest in the project long after moving on. My mother helped by reading through all of Martini’s Eritrean diaries, my father meticulously edited the text, my sister Jessica provided weekend respite, my brother-in-law Julian kept my computer running.

  I have tapped the intellectual riches of many experts. In Addis Ababa, Richard and Rita Pankhurst were generous with their insights and Teshome Bokan Gabre Mariam was kind enough to offer detailed comments on an early draft. Professor Massimo Romandini, probably the world’s leading expert on Martini, was a wonderful correspondent, Martin Plaut kept me up-to-date with current events on the Horn, Nick Lera and Jennie Street told me what was what on the railway.

  During my research trips I relied on the hospitality of many: Caroline Lees and Alan Macdonald in Asmara, Judith Matloff in New York, Peter Whaley in Washington and the Ostrovskys and Frys in Moscow deserve particular mention. Thanks are also due to the Kagnew veterans who welcomed me to one of their reunions in Florida and to Zazz, Zio Bob and Tom Indelicato for their running commentary on early drafts and life in general.

  John Caveney, researcher at the Financial Times, was a wonderful asset and Olga Shevtsova, the Times’ fixer in Moscow, saved me from confusion. The Society of Authors helped by paying for one of my many trips to Eritrea.

  Having already dedicated one book to Michael Holman, I won’t repeat myself, but he was the reason why, Against All Odds and Never Kneeling Down, I finished the book.

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