In essence the Eritrean regime welcomes any conflict that weakens its neighbours and President Issayas Afewerki would certainly prefer Hemeti over Burhan...

Eritrea's President Issayas Afewerki is equally perturbed by the Pretoria pact and the disarmament of his Amhara allies...

Cairo may also choose to see how ties develop between Eritrea's President Issayas Afewerki and Abiy...

This was reinforced by Eritrean President Issayas Afewerki's trip to Kenya this month when he told journalists he supported the Addis Ababa-Tigray ceasefire...

On one hand Abiy must convince Amharas to accept referenda for Wolkait and Raya – and ensure that Eritrea's President Issayas Afewerki the arch-enemy of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) doesn't act as a spoiler by further backing Amhara malcontents (AC Vol 63 No 22 Addis Ababa and Tigray sign an uneasy truce)...

Thanking Moscow's 'Eritrean friends for their consistent support of Russian initiatives in the UN ' Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sketched out closer ties between the two countries after meeting with President Issayas Afewerki on 26 January at the end of his four-country tour of Africa (AC Vol 64 No 3 President Putin's Africa summit in July will be key diplomatic test)...

But Eritrean troops remain in Tigray while President Issayas Afewerki signalled his determination to destroy the TPLF by deploying 20 to 30 divisions there...

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Issayas Afewerki put at least half a million soldiers – including fighters of the Amhara Special Forces militia (controlled by regional rather than federal authorities) – into the field...

How Issayas's strategy thrives in a divided Ethiopia Eritrean President Issayas Afewerki has different and wider aims than those of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed not least his long-held belief that Eritrea needs a weak or even divided Ethiopia as a neighbour (AC Vol 63 No 12 Abiy risks Amhara backlash)...

Eritrea and its supreme leader President Issayas Afewerki present another set of intractable challenges to peacemakers (AC Vol 62 No 21 Abiy's war party digs in)...

The new Somali president wants better relations with the mercurial President Issayas Afewerki but the agreement signed at the end of the trip clarified little especially not the current status of the strategic alliance Eritrea Ethiopia and Somalia signed in 2018 let alone what should become of the 5 000 Somali trainees (See Box What does Eritrea's Isayas know about 5 000 Somali 'trainees'...