MASSAWA has nearly fallen. Eritrean guerillas claim control of Asmara airport. Assab SLOHE CLELELH south Soriali troops bave beeni held bur not defcated. Refugees leave Massawe.
Ethiopia itself faces virtual civil people killed in fighting in Addis Ababa every day.
The nationalist forces in Eritrea in the nortb and the CATHH Ogaden in the south can allow themseives a certain bewilderment. After years of Soviethacked struggle against a right-wing Ethiopian everything has been turned on its head, The USSR now supplies the "socialist" Derg, the Ethiopian military Gavernmnent, with the SULE weapons Somalia, which backs the Ogaden imperialist powers BTLLTCIASSMEI enthusiastic backers among the right-wing regimes.
AID The imperialists have so far refused to give open military DECAERA 10 SolRL9, PECTerEIEIY IRANIAN POLICE opened HTE IRED OCNODSEESHOUCELOI and Meshed twa weeks ago. killins aver mal wowndie further 500 and arresting 1,400 people, mainly Muslint students of theology. The demonstrations were organised to protest agaust tie banning of religious céremonier after the death of the principle chief chiite of Irab. The state-controlled press in tran, however, flagrantiy lies by saying that only five were shot dead, one child was trampled to death, nine were injured and 70 were erresred. It farcher Hries to discredit the demonstratons by seying that they demonstrated agatmt land supression of the wearing of veilsby women.
Al the same tine there was a Terey of open letters, neighbours, 1973 al Britain's request.
that the once received. Britain is known to nationalists, is La reward Tor most Arab Fraction.
sea raids against to allow its rich and powerlul like Iran, to intervene. Iran bas a history as imperialist policeman in the region, intervening against the Omani liberation struggle in by proxy KREMLIN But covert aid to Somalia is greater chan anvone will admolt.
have stepped up its nid programme in the thoush we don't know its tall exient, And West Germany has been secretly supplying arms as Somali help in repressing the Red Army *sphenes of In the last week the Derg has tried to divert attention from Me SoutEn IOn C a and Eritrean mositions Militarir this vital, for tbe nealy unifiod Eritreau torees now bold al but coexistence, the two or three most important The Soviet part in all this has been utterly synical. Reports of AS CINUR HEUVEUHLECRCL undoubtedly exagerated, bur Crunma, me Luoai comeanParty proudly trumbers the decds of its twr IAIT. military 'advisers" Russians But it would be wrong to regard the Soviet Intervention USELILL al as le imperialists*. Soviet interest in Africa has notbing to do with markets and everyhing to do with military and political -intluenoe This creates a dilemma for the Kremlin policy makers. They wart to extend their influence tothe makimum -especally in an area like the Horn, which is on vital sea lanes — hut cannot afford to upser 'peaceful This bicaus that the USSR will not foment terolution in Africa, as cbe imperialist press would bave us believe. Instead i tries to win to its politica and military influcnoe radical TEHES TEININCE THIE TCOIRIE economically tied to imperialwill mean intervention to help genuinely HMEL IEECRIL struggles - as in Angola -wbercas in Elicopia il means tampling oi the democratic sod national cights of the very people it had once supported Such a policy is not only brutal. Ht could also be disastrously counterproducnvc. nereiy me somans ure back in the imperialist fold, Iris increasingly Ikely that the left wing Eritreans will hecome ACNEUSEIE ibovenent as a whole tied ta the * reactionary Saudi, Iranian and Sudanese regimes.
That would be fragi and we would hare ao-one but the HUSSHS O BRIEE