Ethiopia admits detaining ‘terrorist suspects’

THE Ethiopian government acknowledged detaining 41 suspected international terrorists from 17 countries and said foreign investigators were given permission to question them, according to an official statement published yesterday.

The statement comes a week after an investigation into the transfer of terror suspects from Kenya to Somalia and eventually to Ethiopia. Ethiopian officials at the time denied any suspects were in custody, but US officials said they had questioned some of the suspects.

Human rights groups have called the detentions and transfers a violation of international law.

Ethiopia sent troops into Somalia in December to defeat a radical Islamic movement that was threatening to overthrow Somalia’s transitional federal government, a UN-backed administration that is struggling to gain control of the country. Extremists with ties to the al-Qaida terror group fought on behalf of the Somali movement.

“Suspected international terrorists have been and are still being captured by the joint forces of the transitional federal government of Somalia and Ethiopia,” the ministry of foreign affairs statement said. “Pursuant to a common understanding between Ethiopia and the TFG authorities, some of those captured have indeed been brought to Ethiopia.”

Twenty-nine of the suspects have been ordered released by a military court and five already have been freed, the statement said. Ethiopia said only 12 detainees will remain in custody after the next round of releases. The government strongly denied that it acted in secrecy or had violated human rights.