Separatists
in the Afar
region began a rebellion
against
Ethiopian government
in the 1990s [AFP]
Up
to 15 European tourists are believed to have been
kidnapped in a remote desert region in northern
Ethiopia.
Two tour groups - one of French citizens and
another that reportedly included a Briton, an
Italian and another Frenchman - went missing
in the Afar region.
"A
kidnapping or kidnappings did take place,"
Stephane Gompertz, the French ambassador to
Ethiopia, said on Friday.
"It
seems that the incident or incidents happened two
days ago in the evening. At the moment, we don't
know which group may be involved or why they have
done this," he added.
Embassy
staff
The
British foreign office said that a number
of British nationals connected to government
agencies were missing in
Ethiopia
.
"We
can confirm that a group of Western tourists is
missing ineastern
Ethiopia
including a number of British nationals withconnections
to the British Council, the Foreign Office and theDepartment
for International Development," the ministry
said.
Margaret
Beckett, Britain's foreign minister, later said that
some of the British contingent were from the British
embassy in Ethiopia.
"Unfortunately
I can confirm that five of those [missing] are
members of staff, or relatives of members of staff,
at our embassy in
Addis Ababa
," Beckett said in a statement.
An
official from the Origins Ethiopia tour group
earlier told AFP news: "In the first convoy,
there were 11 French, my guide, three drivers,
a cook, two policemen.
"The
other group had three British residents in
Ethiopia, a cook, a guide, and two
policemen."
Bandit
threat
He
said he had lost contact with the guide
accompanying the tourists on Tuesday night.
"A
driver of one of my colleagues called me yesterday
to inform me that one or two of my groups have
been kidnapped," he said.
Ethiopia's government said it was aware of this
week's incident, but could not confirm if it was a
kidnapping.
"The government is monitoring the
situation," an information ministry spokesman
said.
The
government requires all convoys visiting the area to
have a minimum of two cars and travel with armed
guards because of the threat of bandits.
In 1995, nine Italian tourists were captured by
Afar tribesmen, then released two weeks later.
Afar separatists began a low-level rebellion
against the Addis Ababa government in the 1990s,
calling for the creation of a separate Afar state
on territory which straddles Ethiopia, Eritrea and
Djibouti.
