Featured biography 1
Portal:Eritrea/Featured biography/1
Isaias Afwerki (Tigrinya: ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ) is the first and current President of Eritrea, attaining that status after Eritrean independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Prior to that, he was the leader of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, an armed movement determined to secure Eritrean independence.
He joined the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) in 1966 and in the following year he was sent to China to receive military training. He never spoke about his private life as discretion is an Eritrean's treasured culture. During which bitter power struggle erupted between Christian highlanders and Muslim low land settlers supported by the petrodollar from across the red sea. Four years later he was appointed a commander. Eventually he split from ELF (Eritrean Liberation Front) and joined a small group of combatants which became known as the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). He next allied himself with other two groups that had splintered from the ELF earlier : PLF1, led by Osman Saleh Sabbe, and a group known as Obel. In 1976 he split from Sabbe's group after the latter signed a unity agreement with the ELF (the Khartoum Agreement)
Featured biography 2
Portal:Eritrea/Featured biography/2
Zersenay Tadese (born 8 February 1982) is an Eritrean long-distance track, and road running athlete. His bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Athens Olympics made him the first ever Eritrean Olympic medallist, and his 20 km title at the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships also made him the country's first athlete to win at a world championship event. He does not use a sprint finish to win races: his strategy relies upon a combination of efficient running and fast pace setting.
He has found most of his success over the half marathon distance, with three consecutive victories in the World Half Marathon Championships from 2007 to 2009. He has also excelled in cross country running, winning a gold, one silver, and two bronze medals in the long distance race over the last five IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
In 2009 he became only the second man (after Paul Tergat) to win three World Championship medals over three different surfaces in the same year: winning World Cross Country bronze, 10,000 metres World Championship silver on the track, and gold in road running at the World Half Marathon Championships. He is a popular public figure in his home country; 2500 guests attended his wedding to Merhawit Solomon, which was broadcast live on Eritrean television. His brother, Kidane Tadese, is also a professional distance runner.