Freed Ethiopian hostages return to capital

Eight Ethiopians who had been captured along with a group of European tourists who were released earlier today made their way back to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa after being held for 52 days in one of the most inhospitable areas on Earth.

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 tonight or tomorrow.

Ethiopian government officials said yesterday 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 north-eastern 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.

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."

Tony Hickey, another tour organiser who was active in calling for the hostages' release, identified two other hostages as Debash Baye and Yonas Mesfin. The others, he said, were natives of the Afar region of Ethiopia.

Regarding their internment and release, "the details are still very sketchy," he said. "All we know is that they crossed over into Ethiopia and met members of the Ethiopian defense forces. But otherwise, aside from the fact that they're all well, we don't know any more."

Bereket Simon, an adviser to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, said he had little information on the hostages' release or their condition.

Although it was not clear who was responsible for the kidnapping, Bereket called it "a terrorist act that was taken by the Eritrean government and those sponsored by it".

He added: "We are happy that our citizens have come back safe and sound."