Ethiopia police arrest 2 EU staffers

Oct 19, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Police arrested two foreigners working with the European Union in Ethiopia on Thursday because they were trying to help two Ethiopians wanted for serious crimes cross the southern border with Kenya, state-owned Ethiopian TV reported.

The immigration department statement read on Ethiopian TV did not identify the foreigners nor the Ethiopians.

E.U. development spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio in Brussels said that the E.U. delegation in Ethiopia was still trying to get information on what had happened.

Police stopped a European Commission vehicle with diplomatic license plates containing four people in the southern border town of Moyale and made the arrests when the foreigners refused to wind down their windows, the statement said.

The Ethiopians, who are in police custody, were, “being hunted by police for committing felonies,” the statement said.

What the foreigners did, “violates the sovereignty of the country while jeopardizing the security of the nation,” the statement said.

The European Union is one of Ethiopia’s largest donors, but its officials have been sharply critical of political developments in the country amid questions about top officials’ commitment to democracy.

(AP)