The government has been in contact with the kidnappers of a European tour group, Ethiopia’s foreign minister said today.

A European tour group that went missing last week is “safe and secure” but being held by unknown kidnappers near the disputed border of Ethiopia and Eritrea, Ethiopia’s foreign minister said today.

Britain was sending a 10-man crisis team to Ethiopia today after at least a dozen Western tourists were kidnapped in remote north-eastern Ethiopia, a barren expanse of volcanoes and ancient salt mines where bandits and rebels operate.

Five Britons are missing after 10 French tourists were kidnapped in the remote desert of northern Ethiopia, it was reported today.