LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Eritrea
built 200 days ago
Eritrea was part of the first Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum until its decline in the 8th century. It came under the control of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, and later of the Egyptians. The Italians captured the coastal areas in 1885, and the Treaty of Uccialli (May 2, 1889) gave Italy sovereignty over part of Eritrea. The Italians named their colony after the Roman name for the Red Sea, Mare Erythraeum, and ruled it up until World War II. The British captured Eritrea in 1941 and later administered it as a UN Trust Territory until it became federated with Ethiopia on Sept. 15, 1952. It was made an Ethiopian province on Nov. 14, 1962.
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Eritrea is a member in good standing of the African Union (AU), the successor of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). But it has withdrawn its representative to the AU in protest of the AU's lack of leadership in facilitating the implementation of a binding border decision demarcating the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Eritrea's relationship with the United States is complicated. Although the two nations have a close working relationship regarding the on-going war on terror, there has been a growing tension in other areas. As of September 2007, relations with the US appear to be worsening. US Assistant Secretary of State, Jendayi Frazer, has called the nation a 'state sponsor of terrorism' and the US government is considering adding Eritrea to its list of rogue states, along with Iran, North Korea and Cuba.
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Eritrea has strained relations with nearly all its neighbors, including Sudan, but a border dispute with Ethiopia led to full-scale war in 1998, with more than 20,000 Eritreans killed over two years. That Eritrea would prefer Somalia's ICU in its struggle against the Ethiopian-backed interim government is hardly surprising then; ... the extent of the cooperation between Eritrea and the ICU is only now coming to light. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross posted a story on Pajamas Media this weekend on the alliance between the two:
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In Nov., 2006, the boundary commission responsible for demarcating the disputed border with Ethiopia said it would demarcate the border on maps, and that the Eritrea and Ethiopia would have a year to demarcate it on the ground. The next month, Ethiopia accused Eritrea of having soldiers in Somalia in support of Islamists there, saying that Eritrean dead had been found after the Islamists were routed. Eritrea denied the charges, but it was widely believed to have supplied the Islamists with arms. Eritrea subsequently sponsored an anti-Ethiopian, anti-Somali coalition that included Ethiopian rebels, Somali Islamists, and former members of the Somali government.
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In World War II, Eritrea was captured (1941) by the British. Ethiopia had long demanded control of Eritrea on the ground of ethnic affinity, but Britain occupied Eritrea after the war and, beginning in 1949, administered it as a UN trust territory. In 1950 the United Nations decided that Eritrea was to be made independent as a federated part of Ethiopia, and in late 1952 this decision became effective. In late 1962 the Eritrean assembly voted to end the federal status and to unify Eritrea with Ethiopia. After 1962, Eritreans who opposed union carried on sporadic guerrilla warfare against Ethiopia and the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) was founded. In 1972 a rival insurgent group, the Eritrean Popular Liberation Forces (EPLF), was formed and battled the ELF for supremacy.
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Eritrea responded to an escalating military conflict by calling up reserves and increasing its armed forces to approximately 100,000 to 120,000 soldiers. Eritrea and Ethiopia exchanged artillery fire and engaged in air attacks leading to numerous civilian casualties. In June 1998 Eritrean forces bombed the Ethiopian town of Mekele and killed 47 civilians, including children. In June 1998 and again in November 1998, Eritrean forces fired artillery shells at the Ethiopian town of Adrigat, killing six persons and wounding several others. By the end of 1998 approximately 250,000 Eritreans had been internally displaced as a result of the conflict with Ethiopia. At the outbreak of the war, Ethiopia detained and deported Eritreans and Ethiopian citizens of Eritrean origin.
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