The newly reinstated Emperor of Ethiopia started to gain influence in Eritrea by using the tactics of interference in the religious affairs, manipulation of the political parties and terrorism. The formal armed war of Eritrea against Ethiopia started in 1961, which in thirty years, Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), was able to win by 1991.In 1993, the UN sponsored referendum for Independence of Eritrea was held on April 23rd to 25th, in which 99% votes were cast for independence. here, how could Halie Selasie (Sp?) of Ethiopia could take control of Eritrea? The answer is: The US supported Ethipia's claim on Eritria as a way to gain an ally during the Cold War. Selaise was pro-Ameriacn. He attended JFK's funeral so he could be trusted and the horn of Africa due to strategic consdierations remained high on the US cold war agenda. The Eritreans suffered. They did not want to be under the emperor nor the brutal militray dictator who took over later. There struggle coupled with famine and ethnic cleansing carried out by the Ethiopian regime is well documented in Robert Kaplan's (one of my fav. writers) book Surrender or Starve: Travels in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea. Its a wonderful read. [Not only it talks about Eritrea and its inhabitants and their gallantry, it also talks about the food-aid politics of the western power]. I think, this thread would go down on Sajha history as one of the best thread, if you cite your sources for the information and the maps. Just a suggestion.