The meeting at Arota, Ansaba, usually referred as the Ansaba meeting, was convened between 11-18 September 1968. It was attended by 40 delegates from the 3rd, 4th and 5th Divisions of the ELA in addition to leaders of the Training and Support Units. The 2nd Division, which was engaged in a murderous battle at Halhal three days earlier on 8 September 1968, could not attend this meeting. Likewise, the 1st Division was absent although it sent two envoys to the meeting (Halibe Sete, alias Ahmed Ibrahim Nafie, and Mahmoud Ibrahim M. Saed) asking for a postponement because of the absence of key division leaders in the field and because of the tragedy that occurred at Halhal in which over 45 fighters, including the Commander Omar Ezaz, were martyred. But the majority of the participants of the Ansaba meeting felt that the Battle of Halhal was not necessary and that the meeting should go ahead without the participation of the 1st and 2nd Divisions, which earlier requested several times for the postponement of this meeting. The meeting gave birth to the Tripartite Union whose new leadership, the Provisional Revolutionary Command, consisted of 12 members.