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Hostages return to Ethiopia
23/04/2007 12:53 - (SA)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Eight Ethiopians who had been captured under still-murky circumstances along with a group of European tourists who were released earlier made their way back to the Ethiopian capital after being held for 52 days in one of the most inhospitable areas.
Ethiopian officials said the eight, found in the disputed border region of Ethiopia and Eritrea, were in good health despite their ordeal and should arrive later on Monday or on Tuesday.
Ethiopian government officials said on Sunday the last eight had been released, apparently in the desert region along the Eritrean-Ethiopian border.
Thirteen Ethiopians were seized at gunpoint along with five Europeans on March 1 while on a sightseeing tour in northeastern Ethiopia near the disputed border with Eritrea. Five of the Ethiopians were found days later. The Europeans - three British, one French and one Italian-Briton - were released on March 13.
Ethiopia has accused neighbouring Eritrea of masterminding the kidnapping, describing it as an act of terrorism, fuelling tensions between the bitter rivals.
Eritrea, which gained independence from the Addis Ababa government in 1993 following a 30-year guerrilla war, denied having anything to do with the kidnapping and blamed the Ethiopian rebel group Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front.
ARDUF, established in the 1990s, aims to unite Afar tribal members in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea.
The release was greeted with joy and relief by the European hostages and their families.
'I was crying last night'
Michael Moore, the head of the British Council's Ethiopia office and the husband of one of the kidnapped Europeans, said on Monday, "We're absolutely delighted to hear they're free."
"We're delighted. All of us are really relieved that they're well," he said.
He said that his wife, Rosanna Moore, would wait until meeting with the Ethiopian hostages before speaking about her own ordeal. The European hostages had declined to discuss the details of their internment, out of concern that the information would endanger the other hostages.
"As a group, they were all kept together," Moore said. "So they want to catch up. Obviously she's very keen to see them."
Friends identified one of the hostages as 24-year-old Ashenafi Mekonnen, who lost his parents in a 1984 famine and who later became a tour guide.
"I was crying last night," said Samson Teshome, a tour operator who found Ashenafi at an Addis Ababa orphanage and trained him to be a tour guide.
"Because I'm like his father." When he returns, he said, "I'm going to have a big celebration with him and all of his friends and my friends."
Regarding their internment and release, "the details are still very sketchy", another tour organiser said. "All we know is that they crossed over into Ethiopia and met members of the Ethiopian defence forces. But otherwise, aside from the fact that they're all well, we don't know any more."
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