Monday, March 31, 2008
The Ethiopian News Agency said the detainees were members of Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a separatist group fighting for the independence of ethnic Somalis in Ogaden. Police said the suspects were linked to the April 2007 attack that killed 74 people, including nine Chinese oil workers, the report said. It said they were also accused of taking part in a grenade attack in the regional capital Jijiga where two people died in May last year. “The ... suspects were also engaged in activities of plotting and committing murders in some towns in the Somali Regional State in eastern Ethiopia. “These suspects of the terror acts had roles ranging from serving as accomplices to coordinating the atrocities committed against civilians,” the ENA report added. The Ethiopian army launched a crackdown in the region on ONLF rebels soon after the attack that grounded operations in the Chinese oil venture in Ogaden region. The barren region has long been extremely poor, but discovery of gas and oil brought new hopes and has fueled the conflict. Formed in 1984, the ONLF is fighting for the independence of ethnic Somalis in the Ogaden, who they say have been marginalised by Addis Ababa. Source: AFP, Mar 31, 2008