Ethiopia Seeks Seized Chinese Oil Workers As Toll Rises

ENERGY TECH

China's foreign ministry condemned the attack and called on the Ethiopian government to ensure the safety of Chinese workers.

by Staff Writers
Addis Ababa (AFP) Apr 25, 2007
Ethiopia searched for up to seven seized Chinese oil workers Wednesday after an attack on a Chinese-run oil venture which killed 77 people, according to a new toll.

Ethiopia sent an investigation team to the Ogaden oil prospection site in a remote eastern region, while a local leader added three more Ethiopians to the death toll, which includes nine Chinese.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front separatist group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack in a statement on its website in which it said it had completely destroyed the oil facility.

Up to seven Chinese workers were kidnapped in the dawn raid on the oil venture in Ethiopia's Ogaden region, where the ONLF is fighting for the independence of ethnic Somalis.

"Officials of the government are going there today, along with defense officials to assess the situation," said Berekat Simon, spokesman for Ethiopian Prime Minster Meles Zenawi.

"The government is committed to pursuing the perpetrators to bring them to justice," he added, making no comment about the abducted Chinese workers.

The president of Ethiopia's Somali region, which includes Ogaden, told AFP that 77 people had died in the rebel attack and confirmed that an investigation was underway.

"I can't go into details, but I can say that we are taking all measures necesary to capture the perpetrators," said Abdulahi Hassen.

A witness in the regional capital of Jijiga reported significant troop movements in the area.

China's foreign ministry condemned the attack and called on the Ethiopian government to ensure the safety of Chinese workers.

Ethiopia accused arch-foe Eritrea of supporting the rebels, a claim Eritrea immediately denied. It was the latest in a string of accusations and counter-accusations between the rival neighbours.

"Hand-in-glove with the Eritrean government, which hates to see Ethiopia's development, the terrorist forces in the region have acted out this horrendous act of terror," the Ethiopian information ministry said in a statement.

Somali regional president Hassen said witnesses had described the attackers as wearing Eritrean army uniforms.

"It was the Eritrean commandos and their international terrorist allies who were responsible for these inhumane acts on ordinary citizens. Their aim, like always, is sabotaging the country's economic facilities," he said.

Eritrea rejected the accusations, claiming Addis Ababa was seeking to trigger a war.

"The accusations are baseless," Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu said. "They want to create a pretext to take belligerent measures against Eritrea."

Ali said the ONLF was the result of a "failed Ethiopian racial policy" that had splintered Ethiopia into more than 30 rival ethnic groups.

"It is becoming clear that these kind of statements are intended to divert attention from Ethiopia's own domestic crisis," he said.

Addis Ababa regularly accuses Eritrea of backing Ethiopian separatist groups that have carried out a series of bombs attacks in Addis Ababa in recent years, and of attacking civilian positions in southern and eastern Ethiopia.

The two nations fought a bloody war from 1998 to 2000 over the demarcation of their frontier and remain bitterly at odds over the unresolved dispute.

Tuesday's raid was the first on an Ethiopian oil exploration site since the ONLF issued a threat to foreign companies operating in the region a year ago.

Hassen said four countries were involved in oil exploration in the region: China, Malaysia, Sweden and the United States.

"I don't think there will be negative effects on our relationships with the exploration corporations," he said. "This is a surprise attack and it does not happen regularly."

Source: Agence France-Presse

Email This Article

ENERGY TECH

EU Warns Russia Against Using Energy For Political Purposes

Vilnius (RIA Novosti) Apr 26, 2007
EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and European MPs have urged Russia to abandon using energy as a political weapon and resume oil supplies to Lithuania. They adopted a joint statement saying that Russia and the EU are mutually dependent on energy, and that the majority of problems arise from political disagreements.

ENERGY TECH Rapid-Fire Pulse Brings Sandia Z Method Closer To Goal Of High-Yield Fusion Reactor New Transmission Needed To Support Growing Texas Wind Generation Capacity Ethiopia Says Eritrea Behind Chinese Oil Facility Bloodbath Ethiopia Seeks Seized Chinese Oil Workers As Toll Rises	CIVIL NUCLEAR Russia Nuclear Power Paradox Nuclear Power Not The Solution For China Says Official Floating NPP Will Be Safer Russian Built Reactor Block 1 Powers Up In China
BLUE SKY Satellites Offer Sunny Outlook On Understanding Polar Climate With Help Of Cloudy Skies No Easy Solution To Indonesian Haze Problem NASA Aims To Clear Up Mystery Of Elusive Clouds At Edge Of Space University Of Colorado Instruments To Launch On NASA Cloud Mission	WOOD PILE How To Manage Forests In Hurricane Impact Zones Museveni Defends Plans To Transfer Ugandan Forests To Indian Group Greater Use Of Biofuels Threatens Rain Forests Soybean Planting Hastens Drying Of Amazonia
FARM NEWS Researcher Finds Negative Effects Of Colonization On Slash-And-Burn Farming In Borneo More Nutritious And Less Toxic Gates Grant To Help Poor Countries Contribute To Doomsday Seed Vault Winter Flounder On The Fast Track To Recovery	CAR TECH Driverless Car Goes On Show In London Made In USA Losing Cachet Technique Creates Metal Memory And Could Lead To Vanishing Dents Geneva Show Hints At Green Fuel Jumble For Motorists
AEROSPACE Australia Fears Jet Flight Guilt Could Hit Tourism New FAA Oceanic Air Traffic System Designed By Lockheed Martin Fully Operational Nondestructive Testing Keeps Bagram Aircraft Flying NASA Seeks New Research Proposals	NUCLEAR SPACE Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement