sudan’s REGional RElations 269that had united under the name of Jihad Eritrea back in 1988 – before
independence. Jihad Eritrea immediately tried to overthrow the newly-
born Eritrean regime through renewed guerrilla warfare. Initially, they
were merely a peripheral nuisance in the Beja-populated provinces
of Barka and Gash-Setit. When their importance grew as a result of
Sudanese support, Asmara countered by backing the so-called Eastern
Front, then fighting the Khartoum regime, leading Asmara into growing
confrontation with Sudan.
The situation changed brutally when relations between Asmara and
Addis Ababa, which had been good since the dual change of power in
1991, fell apart and the two countries went back to war in May 1998.
Asmara immediately reconciled itself with Khartoum to bring Sudan on
side in the renewed conflict with Ethiopia. Khartoum duly disbanded
Jihad Eritrea while Asmara forced the Eastern Front into a hasty ‘peace
agreement’ with the Sudanese regime. Since the end of the war with
Ethiopia, Eritrea has deepened its relationship with Khartoum through
blackmail.
The Asmara regime kept its channels of communications open with
the Sudanese opposition even after distancing itself politically for the
sake of improving relations with Khartoum. This allowed President
Issayas Afeworqi to support the Darfur insurrection when it erupted in- Playing on the widespread fragmentation of the Darfur guerrillas,
the Eritrean regime has continued to blow hot or cold on the Darfur war,
depending on the changing situation.
When the conflict dies down, Asmara fans the embers; when it seems
to be getting out of control (and particularly when Chad appears on the
verge of acquiring an overwhelming influence over it), Eritrea cools it
down. Khartoum is aware of this game but cannot control it. In turn,
Asmara uses this on/off switch to keep Khartoum on its side in its
ongoing confrontational relationship with Ethiopia.
A new dimension of Sudanese–Eritrean relations has recently devel-
oped with the rapprochement between Asmara and Tehran. Iran has
established a military foothold in the Eritrean harbour of Assab and
The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors used it to supply Hamas with weapons. These transited through eastern
(www.riftvalley.net).