US citizen held in Ethiopia

2008-01-21 09:11

Anita Powell

Jijiga - Ethiopian officials have held an American citizen in custody for more than a year in Ethiopia's restive Somali region, the region's top security official says.

Mohammed Farah Hassan had seen no American officials since being jailed in the regional capital of Jijiga, Somali regional security chief Abdi Mohammed Umar said. He said an Ethiopian court had sentenced the man, but did not say for how long or on what charges.

The region's president, Abdullahi Hassan, said on Friday that his government had held "many" foreign nationals of Somali heritage, including Americans and Europeans, in regional jails on suspicion of "international terrorism".

The security official said on Sunday that Mohammed Farah Hassan was an emigre originally from Ethiopia's largest region, Somali, which was home to about 4.5 million people, mostly ethnic Somalis.

Journos not allowed to visit Hassan

He would not say how long exactly the man had been held, and said he had no information on other foreign detainees.

The official refused to allow reporters to visit Hassan, whom he described as a physically disabled planner for the Ogaden National Liberation Front, an ethnically Somali separatist movement that wanted independence from the rest of Ethiopia.

"He's a mastermind," Abdi said, estimating his age at about 40. He said he did not know where in the United States the man might have lived.

American officials said they were investigating.

"We've seen the reports of the regional official's comments, and we're looking into the issue," said US Embassy spokesperson Darragh Paradiso in Addis Ababa.

For eight months, the region had been embroiled in a battle between the Ethiopian government and rebels from the Ogaden National Liberation Front.

In April, fighters from the guerrilla movement attacked a Chinese-run oil exploration field east of the regional capital, killing 74 workers.

- AP