A group of Americans went secretly to the Ogaden during June to contact the ONLF. They were arrested, beaten up and then expelled. Except for their translator.
According to information obtained in Addis Ababa by The Indian Ocean Newsletter, four Americans and their translator, an Ethiopian with the right to reside in the USA, entered clandestinely into the Ogaden region from Djibouti about a month and a half ago. They were not American officials, but people acting in their private capacity. Two of them used an NGO as a cover. The group had intended to contact the military leaders of the OgadenNational Liberation Front (ONLF) rebel movement, most probably to discuss with them the movement's opposition to foreign companies searching for oil in the Ogaden region.
The problem was that the team was picked up immediately by the Ethiopian government army. The four Americans were beaten up considerably, to discourage them from trying such a mission again. But the Ethiopian-American translator was imprisoned and is still being held in an Ethiopian jail. Johnnie Carson, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, is believed to have raised the issue of this Ethiopian-American detainee during his recent meeting in Addis Ababa with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Apparently in vain!
Source: The Indian Ocean Newsletter
Editors Note: We contacted ONLF about this story, No comments were provided
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written by siciido, September 18, 2009
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they kill, Rape and even burn them alive,