...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age...
on allegations that the country has links to the outlawed al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
.
The accusation comes amid protests by Eritreans all over the world who are demanding that Æthiopia recognizes the boundary between the two warring countries.
The two Africa's poorest countries plunged into war in 2002, when International commission established a boundary which Æthiopia refused to recognize. Eritrea waged a war of independence against Æthiopia which costed the both countries a lot of resources that achieved no positive end. Æthiopia did not grant Eritrea her freedom.
Æthiopia feels it does not have to recognize the border since it is under the protection of the united states in case of any war.
Eritrea on the other hand is on Washington's blacklist as the US claims that Eritrea is arming and financing the al Qaeda-like al-Shabaab that is based in Somalia.
Analysts claim that the sanctions could be the final step that could plunge the small nation into war with the US backed Æthiopia.