Kidnappers Release Ethiopian Hostages

Eight Ethiopians kidnapped last month with a British embassy tour in the Afar region of northern Ethiopia have been released, the Foreign Office confirmed today.

The Ethiopians were seized at gunpoint on March 2 with a party of five Europeans, all with links to the British embassy.

The Europeans - three British, one French and one Anglo-Italian - were released after 12 days. But until now there had been little word about the Ethiopians, who were working as guides, drivers and translators for the embassy tour party.

The news was welcomed by the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, who said British officials in the region and in London had been working to secure their release.

"I want to pay tribute to all those in the UK, Ethiopia and Eritrea who have contributed to make this happen," she said in a statement.

"It will be a great relief for their families and friends and I hope that their release will now help bring a close to this crisis."

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, the ARDUF 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: "We're absolutely delighted to hear they're free."

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," Mr Moore said. "So they want to catch up. Obviously [my wife is] very keen to see them."

Friends identified one of the hostages as 24-year-old Ashenafi Mekonnen, who lost his parents in a famine in 1984 and who later became a tour guide.

"I was crying last night ... because I'm like his father," said Samson Teshome, a tour operator who found Mr Ashenafi at an Addis Ababa orphanage and trained him to be a tour guide.

He said that when Mr Ashenafi returns, "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. He said the others were natives of the Afar region of Ethiopia. Bereket Simon, an adviser to the 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, Mr 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."