Freed Chinese oil workers arrive in Ethiopian capital
Seven Chinese oil workers abducted by Ethiopian rebels after a deadly attack on an oil venture arrived here Monday, a day after being freed.
The hostages arrived in Addis Ababa aboard a military helicopter from the country’s eastern Ogaden region, where they had been held since last Tuesday, when the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) raided the Chinese-run oil site, killing 77 people.
“Yes, they have already arrived. They are at the Chinese embassy as of now,” an embassy official at the airport told AFP on condition of anonymity. He gave no further details.
It was not immediately clear whether one Somali and one Ethiopian, also released on Sunday, had also arrived in Addis Ababa.
The ONLF handed over the hostages to the International Committee for the Red Cross after a temporary ceasefire was arranged with the Ethiopian army, with the aid agency acting as mediator.
The rebels, who want independence for ethnic Somalis in Ethiopia’s Ogaden region, had said they wanted to release the Chinese captives rapidly, without any demands.
The group said in a statement Monday that the government had begun a crackdown on civilians in Jijiga, the provincial capital of Somali regional state, which includes Ogaden.
“Now that the Chinese citizens have been released, the ONLF expects this crackdown to broaden to other areas in Ogaden,” the statement said, calling for the international community to bear witness to events there.
Ethiopia “must take a different approach to conflict resolution and agree to internationally-witnessed dialogue with legitimate representatives of the people of Ogaden,” the ONLF said.
Last week’s attack, the first on an oil site since the ONLF issued a threat to foreign companies operating in the region a year ago, killed 68 Ethiopian workers and nine Chinese.
The ONLF has urged China to stop cooperating with Ethiopia on oil exploration until the group gains legitimate self-government in Ogaden, but it said that the attack was not targeting China.
Information from: AFP via news.yahoo.com
