Idris Mohamed Adem – (1922-2003),
Source https://hedgait.blogspot.com/2014/12/idris-mohamed-adem-one-of-prominent.html

You may have heard much about Ibrahim Sultan and Wolde Ab Woldemariam, may be less about Abdulgadir Kebire and others, possibly not about this man. The prominent Eritrean politician whom the EPLF/PFDJ has erased from the history and whom they want us to forget because he was at odds with them. He was a Leading architect in the formation the ELF. President of the Eritrean Assembly (parliament), and prominent leader of the Eritrean Liberation Front, was born in Agordat in 1922. His father was a local farmer who moved to Sudan, and joined the Sudanese Army in Ghadaref – eastern province of Sudan -  where Idris Mohammad Adam enrolled in a local elementary school. In 1936 his family moved back to Agordat where Idris Mohammad Adam pursued his education in Arabic language, religion and the English language and, later worked at the local Sharia Court in Agordat. During the British Administration, in 1941, he served as official Secretary for the Beni-Amer Diglal (Chief). He wrote for the Arabic language edition of the Eritrean Weekly News. In 1947 he took part in the founding Conference of the Muslim League party , and led its Western Province branch.

In 1952 he was elected to the Eritrean Assembly, and in 1955 became its chairman, but his determined support for independence led to his removal in 1956 under pressure from the Ethiopian government. Haile Sellasie tried to persuade him to be party to the dissolution of the federation but he refused. After he was deposed as President of the Eritrean Parliament he was invited to come to Addis to become an advisor to the Emperor at the Palace but he refused that, too.

  Afterwards, he lived in  Agordat, his home town. Back in Agordat, Idris Mohammad Adam continued his support for the cause of independence. He led the popular demonstrations in Agordat in protest to the decision of the pro-Ethiopian parliament in Asmara to replace the national flag of Eritrea by the Ethiopian flag on 24 December 1958. In an interview with Gunter Schroeder, Idris recalled that Hamid Idris Awate came to see him when he was the Chairman of the Eritrean Parliament complaining about the deteriorating situation in Eritrea and showing his interest in a military uprising. Idris stated that he advised await to show patience and thought then, things could be solved peacefully. Hamid Awate visited him again in Agordat after he his removal as Chairman of the Parliament. He again advised Awate to wait because starting a rebellion with few people. before preparations were made could be aborted.

In April 1959 he left to the Sudan accompanied by Ibrahim Sultan, the then Secretary General of the Muslim league, upon the request of the Eritrean Students Movement in Cairo, who wanted him to lead the independence movement. The students and Eritreans in the Sudanese army arranged his visit to Egypt where he was granted political refugee status. In Cairo, he joined forces with other Eritrean intellectuals and, in August 1960, announced the foundation of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) with the main goal of liberating Eritrea by armed struggle.

As Chair and spokesperson of the ELF, Idris Mohammad Adam was particularly active in Western Eritrea where his constituency was mainly settled, among them he succeeded in recruiting Hamed Idris Awate – a brave national fighter – who led the first vanguard of fighters on 1 September 1961.

After the establishment of the ELF in Cairo in 1960, and before the launch of the armed struggle, the Chairman, Idris Mohammed Adem, carried an extensive diplomatic movement in the Arab countries to solicit support for the armed struggle. His first trip was to Saudi Arabia .There he met sabbe, Idris Mohammed Adem recalls that Sabbe had an organization called Al Urwa Al Wutqa (The Firm Bond) in Massawa, dedicated to the improvement of the Muslims living in Ethiopia and Eritrea. After having discussion with Sabbe, the latter agreed to work with the ELF. Together they proceeded to Somalia.

On the 20th December 1960, Idris Mohammed Adem submitted a memorandum which comprised of complaints from the Eritrean people against the Emperor of Ethiopia to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Somalia, Abdirashid Ali Shermarke. He submitted six important requests to the government of Somalia as summarized below. Idris Mohammed Adem, on behalf of the Eritrean people, pleaded with the concerned authority to allow as well as enable them:

1. To open an Eritrean political office in Mogadishu through which… [they] can exercise… [their] political activities and serve the demand of the Eritrean problem, such as organizing communications…
2. To adopt the complaint of the Eritrean people against the Ethiopian Government [in world’s conferences and the General Assembly of the U.N.]
3. To direct through Somalia’s broadcasting station… [their] addresses to [the Eritrean] people in Arabic and Tigrinya even in secrecy [so as to challenge Ethiopia’s propaganda and lift up the morale of the people]
4. To organize… efforts [of the Eritreans] with that of …the Somali people so that… [both of them] can face …[Ethiopia] as a united power when… [Eritreans] start active resistance (i.e. the use of force…).
5. To grant some of the Eritrean students… Somali passports to get advantage of the educational chances granted.
6. To admit some of Eritrean youth in Somali military force and build up an Eritrean division to be trained side by side with their Somali brothers so that they can be ready for the struggle in Eritrea at the proper time.

After a lapse of one month, Idris Mohammed Adem was granted the permission to open the first cover association in Somalia under the name Eritro-Somalia Friendship Association. Besides, the government of Somalia allowed Eritreans to hold Somali diplomatic passports for many years. With the rest of the requests, no credible source of information is available.

The Eritro-Somalia Friendship Association (ESFS) was set up on the 1st of February 1961. The association comprised of seven members with Idris Mohammed Adem and Osman Saleh Sabbe as Chairman and as Vice-chairman respectively. The main task of the society was to publicize the Eritrean cause all over the world by preparing and distributing memorandums and journals.
The diplomatic work in the 1960 did not end in Somalia. Having appointed Sabbe as Liaison Officer of the ELF in Somalia, Idris Mohammed Adem continued his visit to the countries of the Middle East, such as, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, and Syria. Although the first three countries, they claim, were found to be sympathetic to Eritrean problem, Syria officially announced over its media that it would give its full support to Eritrea and also agreed to provide military training in the Syrian soil.

Already in this early phase, ELF proclaimed its revolutionary program to liberate Eritrea through armed struggle, and addressed all Eritreans to unite in the struggle against the Ethiopian occupation. ELF political and military efforts were effective in attracting funds, weapons and political support from Arab states, and in gaining political support of freedom advocators in Europe and elsewhere.

On the field ELF, established a military zone division based on the Algerian Liberation Front (Algerian Front de Libération Nationale) (FLN). The five zones were meant to strengthen ELF military capacity but soon ethnic and religious problems emerged among the fighters. Already in this early phase, one of the most pressing problems faced by ELF was the creation of effective communication channels between the Cairo-based leadership and the fighters in the field. In order to solve this problem, the Supreme Council of the ELF decided, in 1963, to establish a military command (The Revolutionary Command) based in the border city of Kassala (Sudan). Idris Mohammad Adam was appointed as the Head of the Revolutionary Command and Oman Saleh Sabbe was appointed as first vice president.

His diplomatic missions was not confined to the Arab countries. In the mid 1965, Idris and osman Sabbe attended an international conference in China where they stayed for a month and met then with Mao Tse-Tung, the then Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party and with Chou En-Lai, the first premeier of the Peoples' Republic of China. It was after this visit China decided to support the Eritrean Liberation Front with training.

In August 1969, at the Adobaha military conference inside Eritrea, ELF attempted a major restructuring. A Provisional Military General Command headed by Mohammad Ahmad Abdu substituted the Supreme Command. A new modification of the ELF organization took place at the ELF’s first National Conference held in the liberated bases in western Eritrea in October 1970.  In that occasion a new political, military, and organizational programs were adopted. It centred on the sixteen member Revolutionary Council, the legislative arm of the ELF, and, in this case, Idris Mohammad Adam was elected chairman.

In May 1975, at the second National Conference of ELF held in the liberated bases, Idris Mohammad Adam decided not to be nominated to the new leadership of the ELF for personal reasons.

Idris Mohammad Adam moved to Jeddah – KSA afterwards to live among the important Eritrean local community. He didn’t play any active political role, but advocated unity and reconciliation among an increasingly divided ELF. During this period, Idris Mohammad Adam suffered from chronic kidney failure and lived on dialysis. In 1993 Idris Mohammad Adam voted in the referendum for the independence of Eritrea but never returned to his country. He passed away in Jedday City on thursday 28 August 2003 and was buried in Makkah in Saudi Arabia.
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The rise and convergence of activism of Eritrean students in Cairo and Eritrean soldiers serving in the Sudanese army for Eritrean independence.

 Source  convergence-of-student-and-miltiary-resistance/
Former Chairman of the General Assembly, Idris Mohammed Adem who was asked to lead the movement for Eritrean independence in exile
The struggle for Eritrean independence from Ethiopian saw the rise of activism with the Eritrean student body in Cairo and the Eritrean soldiers serving in the Sudanese army. These shared aspirations led to the convergence of these two groups and defined their role in the genesis of the Eritrean independence movement.

The Eritrean Freedom Organization

In 1956, Eritrean soldiers serving in the Sudanese army established the “Freedom Organization.” Its primary objective was to oppose Ethiopian rule in the federated Eritrea, whose autonomy was being eroded by the imperial regime. Most of the soldiers were primarily uneducated Eritreans who had joined the Sudanese army in search of employment.
Despite their limited education, the Eritrean soldiers were inspired by the militant freedom movements emerging in other parts of Africa, such as Algeria. They believed that armed struggle was the only viable path to Eritrean independence.

Student Activism in Cairo

In Cairo, Eritrean students were also actively involved in the struggle for independence. In 1958, they chose Idris Mohammed Adem, a former Speaker of the Eritrean Parliament, to lead their political movement and represent Eritrea in international courts.
Idris Mohammed Adem’s selection stemmed from the divisions within the Eritrean movement’s prominent figures in Egypt. Prominent politicians Mohamed Omar Qadi and Woldeab Woldemariam had disagreements regarding the role of the United Nations in resolving the Eritrean issue and how Egypt can and should help in the process.

Woldeab Woldemariam, exiled leader of the movement for Eritrean independence
Both leaders had met with the leader of the revolutionary leadership of the Egyptian parliament at the time, Anwar es-Sadat and the later chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the politician Ahmed Ashuqeiri. They suggested to them that Ethiopia was violating the federation and that the issue of Eritrea should be referred back to the UN. Sadat and Ashuqeiri suggested that they hold armed resistance instead without reliance on the United Nations.
Woldeab Woldemariam agreed with the proposal but Mohamed Omar Qadi insisted on Egypt’s role in the United Nations believing this was an excuse by the politicians not to help and to not let Woldeab Woldemariam go with him to the U.N. Both leaders rejected the excuses being offered and shared their difference of opinion and strategy.
Thus, Adem was seen as a compromise candidate who could bridge the gap between these two upcoming movements.

Convergence of the Two Groups

The student movement in Cairo and the Eritrean Freedom Organization in Sudan shared a common goal: Eritrean independence. They recognized the need for a unified leadership and agreed to work together towards this objective.

Sheik Ibrahim Sultan, the prominent leader in the movement for Eritrean independence
In 1958, two members of the Freedom Organization, Ibrahim Daud and Abdullah Idris Abdullah, were sent to Eritrea to meet with Idris Mohammed Adem and Ibrahim Sultan, a key figure in the movement for Eritrean independence. This meeting marked the first formal coming together of the political and military wings of the independence movement.

Leadership and Coordination

Idris Mohammed Adem and Ibrahim Sultan were brought out of Eritrea to Kassala. A committee was set up to make all arrangements for their travels to Khartoum and from there to Cairo.
Idris Mohammed Adem became the leader of the unified movement, representing both the student activists and the Eritrean soldiers in Sudan.
Both movements indeed had potential leaders within their ranks: such as the revolutionary students Idris Osman Gelawdios and Mohamed Saleh Hamed. But they were not ready to lead the struggle at the national level.
Even the Eritrean soldiers in the Sudanese army, although mature in age and experience and ready to endure hardships, were low-ranking soldiers who only had the experience of following orders. So both movements wanted someone to lead them.
The two organizations developed a close working relationship, sharing information and resources. They established a network of contacts and supporters in Eritrea and abroad.

Conclusion

The convergence of student activism in Cairo and military resistance in Sudan played a pivotal role in the birth of the Eritrean independence movement. Both groups recognized the need for leadership at a national level and coordination, and they worked together to establish a unified front against Ethiopian rule.
Through their efforts, they laid the foundation for the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), which would eventually launch the armed struggle for Eritrean independence.

 

Source from  Musa Edrees Hamid facebook

A photo taken in Asmra that historically dates back to the mid-50s, included from right to left:

Saleh Abdul Qadir Kabiri (Mayor of Musa then) who opposed the erection of a "statue" of Emperor Heli Selassie in the city was arrested because of it, and was exiled to Addis Ababa and remained under compulsory residence there for many years.
Mr. Idris Mohamed Adam, member of the National Liberation Front, Speaker of the Eritrean Parliament, founder and president of the Eritrea Liberation Front).