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U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki shake hands in Eritrea

Isaias Afewerki (born 2 February 1945) is the first president of Eritrea. Image File history File links Stop_hand. ... US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki, public domain image from defenselink. ... US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki, public domain image from defenselink. ... February 2 is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...

Born into a prominent Eritrean family of the Hamasien Latos (Judaic-Christian) aristocracy, Isaias Afewerki was the nephew of Dejazmatch Solomon, who served as the administrator of Wollo province for Ethiopian Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen. Isaias was a member of one of the more influential Eritrean families during the rule of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. He became an engineering student in Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia), and left to join the forces fighting for Eritrean independence in the mid 1960s after the federation of Eritrea with Ethiopia was dissolved. Hamasien is a province in the interior of Eritrea. ... Wollo was a province in the north-eastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Dessye. ... Emperor Amha Selassie of Ethiopia Emperor Amha Selassie of Ethiopia (1916 - February 17, 1997) was the exiled claimant of the Ethiopian Imperial Throne (also known as Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen). ... Haile Selassie Haile Selassie (Power of Trinity) (July 23, 1892 – August 27, 1975) was the last Emperor (1930–1936; 1941–1974) of Ethiopia, and is a religious symbol in the Rastafarian movement. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1961 to 1970, inclusive. ...

ELF experience

He joined the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) in 1966 and shortly after, he was sent to China for training. Upon his return after a year, he was appointed a political commissioner. Eventually, he split from the ELF and joined a small group of combatants (later known as PLF2). Soon he allied himself with another two groups that splintered from the ELF: PLF1, led by Osman Saleh Sabbe and a group known as Obelyeen. In 1975 he split from Sabbe after Sabbe signed a unity agreement with the ELF (Khartoum Agreement). In 1977 he renamed his group EPLF. Ramadan Mohammed Nur (A protoge of Sabbe) was initially the Secretary General and Isaias his deputy. In 1987 he became the Secretary General ( and has been elected to that position twice in 19 years) of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). Isaias Afewerki is recognized as the architect of the strategy that eventually allowed the EPLF to surpass and eliminate the ELF as the foremost liberation movement of Eritrea, while at the same time increasing the effectiveness of his group against the forces of Emperor Haile Selassie's and then the Derg regimes of Ethiopia. In 1982, together with Meles Zenawi of the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front, the combined forces of the EPLF and the TPLF (Tigrai People's Liberatiin Front (Ethiopian) he assaulted the ELF forces and drove it out of Eritrea. That mutually beneficial alliance eventually brought the forces of both movements into Addis Ababa toppling the Derg regime in 1991 and achieving Eritrean independence by referendum two years later. Wikipedia does not yet have a page called Eritrean Liberation Front. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF) was an armed organization that fought for the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi Legesse (Meles) Zenawi (born May 8, 1955) is Prime Minister of Ethiopia. ... The Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front, or TPLF, is the core group of the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the political party that is leading Ethiopia as of 2005. ... Map of Ethiopia highlighting Addis Ababa (in red). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Presidency

After Eritrean independence was gained in 1993, he became its first president, under a reorganized EPLF, now called the People's Front for Democracy and Justice. His once-firm friendship with the new Ethiopian government however deteriorated into a fierce border and economic dispute that turned into a long and bloody border war with Ethiopia, 1998 - 2000. Armed conflict with Ethiopia claimed more than 70,000 lives from both sides and ended with the signing of the Algiers Agreement on December 12, 2000. 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... The Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice is the only legal Eritrean political party. ... The Eritrean-Ethiopian War took place from May 1998 to June 2000 between Ethiopia and Eritrea. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... The Algiers Agreement was an agreement between the governments of Eritrea and Ethiopia signed on December 12, 2000, at Algiers, Algeria to end the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, a border war fought by the two countries from 1998 to 2000. ... December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 19 days remaining. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

Criticism

Isaias was heavily criticized by many of his cabinet of ministers and party members (the G-15) for the way he handled the border conflict with Ethiopia. He reacted by accusing them of treason and defeatism and eventually jailing them incommunicado. G-15 is a name given to a group in Eritrea that opposes the policy of President Isaias Afewerki in handling the conflict with Ethiopia. ...

Eritrean national elections were held in 1995 between PFDJ candidates and independent candidates while regional elections have been held every five years with the last round in 2004.^[1] The Administration has prosecuted the editors of all but three local newspapers for failure to adhere to the Press Law. According to Reporters without Borders, Eritrea has imprisoned 13 journalists.^[2][3] The Eritrean constitution was ratified in 1997 by a constituent assembly but never implemented nine years later. In May 2002 all Christian denominations apart from the Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical Lutheran churches were ordered to close their churches in respect of the religious regulations in effect since Colonial Eritrea. Hundreds of Christians^[4],^[5] and Muslims have been arrested without visitation rights and were never presented to a court. Reporters Without Borders, or RWB (French: Reporters sans frontières, Spanish: Reporteros Sin Fronteras, or RSF) is an international non-governmental organization interested in issues relating to freedom of the press. ... A religious denomination, (also simply denomination) is a large, long-established subgroup within a religion that has existed for many years. ... Separate articles treat Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox Judaism. ... Mr wadawits smells Luthers seal Lutheranism is a Christian tradition based upon the main theological insights of Martin Luther. ...

Letters to UN Secretary General

Due to his frustration with the stalemated peace process with Ethiopia, the President of Eritrea wrote a series of Eleven Letters to the UN Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Ruling Party

The ruling PFDJ, which controls large financial, construction, transportation, communication and agricultural intersts, is the only party allowed to operate in the country. However, the Administration has openly expressed the hope of laying down the foundation from which an effective multi-party state can evolve. Isayas has expressed the belief that many African countries have failed to implement a successful multi-party system mainly because they move to quickly in their attempts to mimick the West. He expressed such belief when he addressed the nation and referred to the old Eritrean proverb: "move like the grand turtle." ^{[citation needed]}

Notes

• ↑ "Country profile: Eritrea (Leaders)", BBC, August 10, 2005.
• ↑ "Country profile: Eritrea (Media)", BBC, August 10, 2005.
• ↑ "Quick exit: BBC expelled from Eritrea", BBC, September 10, 2005.
• ↑ "US condemns Eritrea over religion", BBC, December 23, 2003.
• ↑ "Religious persecution in Eritrea", BBC, September 17, 2004.