Ethiopia accuses Eritrea in kidnappings

[maddezmom]

MEKELE, Ethiopia - Ethiopian officials on Saturday accused forces from archrival Eritrea of kidnapping five British citizens and 13 Ethiopians who were touring a remote region near the African countries' long-disputed border, then taking the group to a military camp in Eritrea.

The claims could not be independently verified. The group went missing Thursday while traveling in Ethiopia's Afar region, a barren expanse of ancient salt mines and volcanoes some 500 miles northeast of the capital, Addis Ababa.

State media reported late Saturday that five of 13 Ethiopians taken were found near the border with Eritrea, but it was not clear whether they escaped their captors or were released, state media reported.

The Ethiopian News Agency said the five were with Ethiopian security forces who had been patrolling the area. No further details were available.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070304/ap_on_re_af/ethiopia_tourists;_ylt=AoySPrsTxroyp9znoV_H5.tvaA8F

[ohio2007]

1. Does this mean "boots on the ground" will venture into Eritrea soon ?

The two nations are enemies with that border 'tiff'.
Time for Eritrea to categorically deny the incident as a state sponsored kidnapping or....claim the "spies" will be dealt with according to local laws.

[Eugene]

2. Observer: Kidnap Britons sighted in Eritrea

Kidnap Britons sighted in Eritrea


Ethiopians fear that the abduction marks an escalation of conflict

Jamie Doward, Naomi Loomes and Jason Burke
Sunday March 4, 2007
The Observer

The five Britons kidnapped in Ethiopia were sighted yesterday in an Eritrean
army camp, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border between the countries.

The sighting, in a camp near the village of Ara-Ta, confirms that the Britons
are being held by Eritrean soldiers and not local people and suggests there
has been a dramatic escalation in tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

British sources in Ethiopia confirmed the sighting of the five Foreign Office
and British Council workers who were travelling in the area. The sources said
the kidnap represented a calculated effort by the Eritreans to destabilise
the border.

-snip-

Full article: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2026386,00.html

[maddezmom]

3. SAS team could free Ethiopia tourists

LONDON (AFP) - Britain is preparing to send in an SAS team to rescue five Britons feared kidnapped in Ethopia if diplomatic efforts to release them fail, newspapers said Monday.

Authorities refused to comment on the reports, which come amid frantic behind-the-scenes efforts to secure the release of the five, all linked to Britain's embassy in Addis Ababa.

Some 60 SAS troops have already been sent to neighbouring Djibouti, the Daily Mirror reported, while The Times talked of a "substantial" team and The Guardian said special forces were already in Ethiopia itself.

The missing five were kidnapped last Thursday while on a tourist trip to the remote northeastern Afar desert region near the Eritrean border, according to the Ethiopian state news agency.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070305/wl_uk_afp/ethiopiakidnapbritaineritreasas

[Eugene]

4. Reuters: Britain suspects Afar group behind Ethiopia kidnap

Britain suspects Afar group behind Ethiopia kidnap
06 Mar 2007 18:44:15 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Andrew Cawthorne

BERAHILE, Ethiopia, March 6 (Reuters) - Kidnappers who seized five people linked
to the British embassy in Ethiopia may have come from local groups in the Afar
region where the abduction took place, sources said on Tuesday.

"This is likely to be a regional issue or regional group," a British diplomatic source in
Ethiopia told Reuters.

Local sources in Afar had blamed Eritrean soldiers for last week's kidnappings.

But an Ethiopian, who says he was kidnapped along with the five Europeans but later
released, said they were taken by Afar rebels dressed in Eritrean military uniforms.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06443839.htm

Also: British gov't quiet over missing staff in Ethiopia - AFP