Selassie did liberate Eritrea

This refers to the Dec. 4 letter, “Selassie did not liberate Eritrea,” by Abdulgadir Ismail, published in response to Farouk Luqman’ article, “Emperor Selassie of Ethiopia, a descendant of Queen Sheba.” The letter says that Luqman in that article made a grave misstatement when he said that Haile Selassie liberated Eritrea when the historical fact is that he did exactly the opposite.
It says that it is a known fact that Eritreans had been fighting against Haile Selassie and then the Dergue or Derg (a short form of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army), the military junta, that had earlier toppled Sellasie. Eritreans engaged in a fight with them that went on for more than three decades until they liberated their country from Ethiopian occupation.
It was a grave misstatement by Abdulgadir Ismail himself, because Haile Selassie had indeed liberated Eritrea from the Italians. With the consent of 52 known elders from many parts of Eritrea, it became a part of Ethiopia. And that is the truth.
The three decades of fighting was inflamed by certain elements of Eritreans with the help of outside forces; and the carnage that ensued for many years is regrettably horrific. — A reader, By email