How old is president isaias afewerki

In Petros' wife, Aster Yohannes, returned to Eritrea from the US, where she had been studying, having received assurances that she could safely visit her family. She was arrested on arriving at Asmara's airport and, like her husband, has not been heard from since. September also brought a crushing assault on press freedom in Eritrea, with 11 journalists caught up in the arrests that month. As with the politicians, it is impossible to know for sure where the journalists are being held and whether they are still alive.

Among them is Dawit Isaak, a reporter at the independent newspaper Setit who has dual Eritrean-Swedish citizenship. The year-old is reportedly locked up in the infamous Eiraeiro prison, where torture is allegedly common practice. Last month UN rights experts said a credible source had indicated Dawit was still alive as of September -- the first sign of life in seven years.

His brother, Esayas Isaak, told AFP he had no information about that clue, but said he was happy the world was starting to pay attention.

The latest global index from Reporters Without Borders placed Eritrea last out of countries, and the group refers to Isaias as a "press freedom predator". AFP has documented allegations that Eritrean soldiers have carried out massacres in the region and engaged in widespread rapes of Tigrayan women. Eritrea has rejected those charges, although in August the US imposed sanctions on its army chief Filipos Woldeyohannes over human rights abuses in Tigray. Connell said the events of September and what is happening today in Tigray "are closely related".

His reputation has since undergone a transformation. He has never been elected, has stopped any attempts to hold an election and in a confidential message from the US ambassador in Eritrea, he was described as an "unhinged dictator". Ambassador Ronald K McMullen wrote, in a document released in a tranche of Wikileaks cables, that President Isaias was "cruel and defiant". In the same year, the African Union urged the United Nations to sanction Eritrea over its alleged support of Islamist militants in Somalia.

A charge that Eritrea denied. Some see his jailing of prominent leaders of the independence movement, who had been critical of his presidency, as a turning point. The detention of journalists and anyone who appeared to be an opponent gathered pace from then on. He also shut down fledgling newspapers which were beginning to find their voice. But he had given indications of this type of behaviour before. He was always charismatic and persuasive but was also "quite merciless and vindictive," says Andebrhan Welde Giorgis, a former Eritrean ambassador and struggle comrade of Mr Isaias, who now lives in exile.

During the independence war, the need for solidarity when the rebel fighters were outnumbered and outgunned by Ethiopian government forces meant that criticism of him was kept in check, Mr Andebrhan adds. After independence, the expectation was that a democratic government would be established, but although a new constitution was drawn up in , it was never enacted.

The president used the border war with Ethiopia as an excuse to suspend any moves towards democracy and they were never restarted. Then the failure of Ethiopia to agree to a ruling by an independent border commission meant that Eritrea remained on a war footing and led to the indefinite conscription of tens of thousands of people. Mr Isaias went on to "personalise power and having personalised power he abused it to the maximum", former Eritrean ambassador Mr Andebrhan says.

He speaks about the president as if he has a split personality. Will the Western powers risk losing their partnership with the Ethiopian prime minister by putting the blame for the atrocities committed in Tigray entirely on him and his government? With Ethiopia already acknowledging that Eritrean troops attacked local civilians in Tigray, it is likely that when the conflict is over and the international community is looking for someone to blame, Afwerki will be the obvious scapegoat.

Both the TPLF and the Ethiopian government have strong lobbying operations in the US, and while the narratives they have been pushing are not fully known, it is certain that they are not friendly to Eritrea. Left isolated, a weakened Afwerki would be vulnerable prey. The Afwerki regime is also likely to face a new wave of domestic dissent in the coming days.

While the Eritrean president has been singularly focused on the war in Tigray, conditions have been worsening by the day for citizens inside Eritrea. Eritrean families who sent their loved ones to the war in Ethiopia have been kept completely in the dark and do not know their fates. The magnitude of losses will be revealed only after Eritrea begins pulling out of Tigray, which would likely result in significant public anger and anti-regime sentiment.

For many years, Eritreans have been led to believe that better days are coming. With nothing left to lose, or hope for, they are more likely than ever before to rise against the regime.

Only time will tell whether Afwerki will be able to weather this storm and somehow hold on to power. But whatever happens in the coming days, Eritrea will have to carry the weight of the devastation its military has caused in Tigray. Abraham T Zere. Published On 28 Mar Looking for a scapegoat Since taking power, Abiy has been a valuable ally to the West.