The Reporter
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Addis Ababa (The Reporter) - Ethiopia blamed longtime enemy Eritrea Wednesday for an attack on a Chineseowned oil exploration field that killed 74 people, escalating the dangerous brinkmanship between the neighboring countries.
Gunmen wearing Eritrean military uniforms attacked the oil field in Ethiopia's remote Somali region killing nine Chinese and 65 local workers, officials here told the media. Eritrea denied the claims.
At least six Chinese workers and a number of Ethiopians were also taken hostage during Tuesday's dawn attack, for which the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front had claimed responsibility.
The secessionist group is formed from Ethiopia's minority Somalis and has had combatants fighting alongside Muslim insurgents in Somalia.
"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," said Wednesday's statement posted on Ethiopia's foreign ministry web site.
It called on the United Nations to take action against Eritrea. Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu dismissed what he called "a habitual nonsense statement" from Ethiopia.
Source: The Report, April, 2007