Issayas Afewerki

Gulf influence has led to blossoming relations with Ethiopia's former enemy Eritrean President Issayas Afewerki who has also now made his peace with neighbour Djibouti (AC Vol 59 No 14 From the edge of war to the bridge of love)...

Nothing concrete came from his meeting with President Issayas Afewerki but Farmajo did manage to inflame many in Mogadishu and Somaliland by saying UN sanctions on Eritrea should be lifted but without mentioning the unresolved conflict between Djibouti and Eritrea...

What to do about the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and how powerful the rebel faction is are among the most important 'known unknowns' as the political landscape takes shape following July's shock peace accord between Ethiopia's Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Issayas Afewerki (AC Vol 59 No 14 From the edge of war to the bridge of love)...

Nearly two decades of tense stand-off melted away when Abiy flew in to Asmara to a tumultuous welcome and a warm embrace from Eritrea's gruff dictator Issayas Afewerki...

The dispatch of the fact-finding mission by the notoriously prickly and reclusive President Issayas Afewerki was another win for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who has made sweeping changes since coming to power...

Unless Ethiopia unilaterally withdraws from territory identified as Eritrean by the international boundary commission there is little chance that President Issayas Afewerki will come to the table...

To convince President Issayas Afewerki Ethiopia will probably have to withdraw its troops setting the stage for talks to bring the 1998-2000 war to a close...

The biggest beneficiary of the conservative Gulf Arab alliance has been President Issayas Afewerki who has gained an unexpected lifeline in return for providing logistical facilities...

At the same time Egypt is wooing the regime of President Issayas Afewerki in order to put pressure on Ethiopia to compromise on its plans for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) which Cairo sees as a threat to the Nile (AC Vol 57 No 14 Dam fine)...

Long isolated in the Horn of Africa Eritrean President Issayas Afewerki is expanding his alliances and horizons...