Red Cross hostages released without harm in Ethiopia

Sept 23, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — A rebel group released two international Red Cross workers Saturday, five days after abducting them in a remote part of eastern Ethiopia.

The United Western Somali Liberation Front said it mistook the men for oil workers exploring in the Ogaden region, which is largely inhabited by ethnic Somalis. Somalia lost control of the region to Ethiopia in 1977, but the rebels say it belongs to them.

“The abductors contacted us today and released the men unharmed and without conditions,” said Patrick Megevand, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ethiopia.

Donal O Suilleabhain, 41, of Ireland, and Hadis Ahmed Samater, 24, of Ethiopia, will be flown to Nairobi, Kenya, after a routine medical check.

The men were kidnapped Monday near Gode, 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa. The rebels have warned companies against exploring for oil or other resources in the region without consent.

O Suilleabhain, pronounced “O’Sullivan,” is a hydrologist who specializes in constructing water wells. He was the only Irish national working in Gode, and previously worked for the Irish Red Cross in the war-town Darfur region of Sudan.

In Dublin, Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said Irish diplomats and Red Cross officials had “worked tirelessly behind the scenes” to secure the men’s release.

O Suilleabhain’s father, Brian, said his son telephoned the family home in Sligo, western Ireland, immediately after his release. His other son, Eoin, a worker for another Irish aid agency called Goal, was in Addis Ababa helping make arrangements for Donal’s return to Ireland.

“It is a bit chaotic here. We don’t know whether we are coming or going,” Brian O Suilleabhain said. “I always kept my hopes up, even when they first said he was kidnapped. To me it was a temporary thing. … He said he was very well treated.”

(AP/ST)