Ethiopia: Kidnapped Britons still missing

A vehicle used by British Embassy staff kidnapped in Ethiopia is being returned to Addis Ababa in a bid to find out more about the attack.

British Embassy staff will examine the bullet-ridden Land Rover that was found in the Afar region, about 500 miles north east of Addis Ababa.

The missing five - three British men, one Italian-British woman, and a French woman - have still not been found despite reports claiming to have located them.

They disappeared about ten days ago while on a tourist trip to northern Ethiopia to visit geological sites and learn more about the remote region.

The Land Rover Discovery and a Toyota Land Cruiser were later found by diplomats in the remote north-eastern village of Hamedali.

It is a popular staging post for intrepid tourists willing to withstand temperatures of 50C to venture into the unique geological formations of the Danakil Depression, including the area's famous salt lakes.

Visitors are warned to travel in convoy with armed guards because of rebels and bandits.

According to witnesses, 50 men burst into the village, some of them armed, and marched a group towards the Eritrean border.

Last week, Ethiopian foreign minister Seyoum Mesfin said tribal leaders in the remote north east had spotted the group in the Afar region and they "appeared to be well".

According to reports, an Afar community leader said the group was "unharmed and safe" and being held by Afar separatist rebels.

Meanwhile, a British Embassy spokeswoman would not comment on reports from a local news agency that some of the Ethiopians who were with the group had been found.

The state-run Ethiopian News Agency said five of the eight Ethiopians who were with the kidnapped embassy staff were found near the Eritrean border on 3 March.

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