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'...

Eritrean President Issayas Afewerki wants to keep Tigray boxed in and unable to resupply through Sudan...

In the past few months aggressive Amhara nationalists who have a common interest with Eritrea's President Issayas Afewerki in destroying the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) have insisted they must hold on to western Tigray which they seized in the initial fighting...

Strained relationshipEthiopia's relations with Eritrea a military ally in the war in Tigray are showing signs of fraying as Eritrean President Issayas Afewerki becomes closer to Amhara politicians and business interests...

Eritrea's President Issayas Afewerki and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed would have preferred outgoing President Mohamed Abdullah Mohamed 'Farmajo' to have won another term due to their security arrangements with him (AC Vol 62 No 21 At the mercy of friends)...

It would also anger Eritrea's President Issayas Afewerki whose troops are stationed in Western Tigray supporting the Amhara position and ready to do battle again with the Tigray Defence Forces (TDF) to prevent them accessing supplies through Sudan (AC Vol 62 No 8 Eritrea entrenches in Tigray)...

In June 2018 Eritrea's President Issayas Afewerki announced that Assab port would soon resume its key role in Ethiopia's trade logistics...

Another critic of the prisoner releases would appear to be Abiy's ally President Issayas Afewerki of Eritrea...