Five Europeans among 18 Kkdnapped in Ethiopia – reports
March 7, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — A missing tour group linked to the U.K. Embassy was kidnapped last week by 30 men who took them into neighboring Eritrea, Ethiopia’s archrival, according to news reports Wednesday.
The five Europeans, along with 13 Ethiopian drivers and translators, went missing Thursday while traveling in Ethiopia’s Afar region, a barren expanse of salt mines and volcanoes 500 miles northeast of the capital, Addis Ababa.
The Europeans are employees of the U.K. Embassy in Addis Ababa, or their relatives. Four are believed to be U.K. citizens; the other is French.
Cmdr. Ali Dani, the deputy police commissioner in Afar, said investigators have determined there were 30 kidnappers carrying “heavy military equipment.” He did not say what the equipment was or what evidence he had.
“What police found out about the situation is that the hostages have been taken to the Eritrean territory,” Dani told Radio Fana, a private radio station with ties to the government, during its 1600 GMT news bulletin.
Eritrea has denied any involvement in the kidnapping. A statement Wednesday from the Eritrean Foreign Affairs ministry called the allegations a “blatant lie.”
Ethiopian government officials have blamed Eritrea before, but played down the allegations over the weekend. Relations between the countries have been strained since Eritrea gained independence from the Addis Ababa government in 1993 following a 30-year guerrilla war.
The state-owned Ethiopian News Agency reported Wednesday that elders in Afar had reported that the group was being held in Eritrea. Afar tribesmen frequently cross the border between the two countries.
The elders said the abductors were armed with automatic guns and radio communication equipment, and set fire to a local finance office in a remote Ethiopian village, Hamedali, after taking cash and property. The agency named the elders as Ahmed Hussien Mohammed, Abdu Ali and Ali Mohammed Ibrahim.
U.K. Foreign Office officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with ministry policy, have said no one has claimed responsibility or made any demands.
Communication and travel into Afar are extremely difficult. The region is not heavily traveled by foreigners – in part because of its proximity to Ethiopia’s disputed border with Eritrea. Its moonlike landscape, though, draws adventure tourists. The famous Ethiopian fossil of Lucy, the earliest known hominid, was discovered in Afar 1974.
Travelers in Afar are required to have armed guards. Bandits and a small rebel group operate in Afar.
(AP)