http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=136639&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21
Fears rise for Europeans kidnapped in Ethiopia Published: Wednesday, 7 March, 2007, 08:32 AM Doha Time MEKELE, Ethiopia: Fears rose yesterday for a British embassy group abducted six days ago in the Ethiopian desert after their bullet-riddled cars were found near the Eritrean border. A team of British officials yesterday left the site where they had been shown the abandoned vehicles, making no comment as they set off to continue scouring the arid and scorching Ethiopian northeast. The missing five - all linked to London’s embassy in Addis Ababa - and their Ethiopian drivers and translators, disappeared last Thursday in Afar region while on a tourist trip. In Paris, the French foreign minister confirmed rumours that one of the captives was a French woman. “One of the people is a French national. We are in permanent contact with the British authorities in London and Addis Ababa and I am personally following the affair,” Philippe Douste-Blazy said in a statement. The other captives are three British men and a second woman who has joint British-Italian nationality, according to the Italian foreign ministry. British authorities remained tight-lipped yesterday over efforts to secure the release of the high-profile captives, as newspapers speculated over their fate. The Foreign Office said it was still working in close contact with the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments as well as European partners. Ethiopian authorities in Addis Ababa gave no official news of their search efforts. “The British authorities want it to be so,” said a government source, requesting anonymity. “The priority is the safe release of the hostages and the government is deeply committed.” Meanwhile, the UN mission tasked with monitoring a buffer zone along the common border between Ethiopia and Eritrea said yesterday it was ready to help the search effort, but had no fresh information about the missing tourists. “The mission stands ready to assist with medical and logistical support, if and when the need arises,” UNMEE spokeswoman Musi Khumalo said in Eritrean capital Asmara. The UN force of 1,700 regularly complains that severe restrictions by both sides, who fought a bitter war in 1998-2000, hamper its ability to carry out patrols. The British and Ethiopian governments still refused to be drawn on allegations from a released captive and an Ethiopian regional official that troops from neighbouring Eritrea were responsible for the abduction, a claim Eritrea has strongly denied. Meanwhile, security forces searching for the Europeans said yesterday their captors had taken them across the border into Eritrea. Asmara has vehemently denied charges by regional officials that Eritrean soldiers were responsible for last week’s abduction and the Addis Ababa government has not repeated the accusation. But senior security officers leading the hunt in the northeastern region and local people blamed Eritrea. “Our information is that Eritrean troops came into Ethiopia, kidnapped people and then went away to Eritrea again. The kidnappers were wearing Eritrean military uniforms,” said Inspector Adem Musa, the regional police chief. Local army commander Gebremarian Hadush also blamed Eritrea and said the hostages were being held in Wiema on the other side of the frontier. He said Afar separatists based in Eritrea might also be involved. “They work together with the Eritreans. They must have done this together,” he said. Asked if the military were preparing a rescue mission, he replied: “That is in the hands of the federal government. We will take that measure if it is an order.” The Times of London said in an editorial that the kidnapping came at a sensitive time for Ethiopia and if Addis Ababa blamed Eritrean troops, securing their release would be all the more difficult if such reports were true. Britain’s Independent newspaper asked on its front page: “Did Al Qaeda kidnap the embassy five?” The group “who were taken hostage may be the victims of Islamist fighters connected to Al Qaeda rather than opportunist robbers,” it suggested. Despite a peace deal between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2000, the two neighbours have yet to define the status of their 1,000km frontier. Bandits operate in the Afar region, where separatists started a low-level rebellion in the early 1990s, and travellers are advised to travel with an armed guard. Tourists visit the area mainly to see the Danakil Depression, one of the lowest and hottest places on Earth known for its salt mines and active volcanoes. – Agencies +++ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4It09A/fOaOAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
