EU attacks Ethiopia for expelling two European diplomats (Roundup)

Oct 20, 2006, 17:05 GMT

Brussels/Addis Ababa - The European Union on Friday attacked Ethiopia for the expulsion of two EU diplomats, saying it was an 'unacceptable' act that violated diplomatic rules.

The two men had been arrested by Ethiopian police Thursday for allegedly attempting to smuggle two Ethiopians wanted for serious crimes across the border to Kenya.

'I am extremely worried about the way the Ethiopian government has reacted,' EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel told reporters in Brussels, adding: 'The basic rules of diplomacy have not been respected.'

Michel said he had not been informed why the two men were expelled, adding: 'It is unacceptable to expel people without any explanation, that is not diplomatic style.'

Swedish EU official Bjoern Jonsson and his Italian colleague Enrico Sborgi, members of the EU commission delegation in Addis Ababa, are on a plane expected later this afternoon in Brussels, a commission spokesman said.

Ethiopia's move would 'not remain without consequences from the EU side,' the spokesman added.

According to the commission, Jonsson worked in the EU delegation's financial department and Sborgi in the security division. Sources in Addis Ababa said the Italian was also a civil society and human rights adviser to the delegation.

Michel said he had summoned Ethiopia's ambassador to the EU.

However, communication channels seemed to be blocked by Addis Abbaba as Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was not available for a phone conversation, the commissioner said.

Meanwhile, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said that Yalemzewd Bekele, an Ethiopian lawyer working for the EU delegation in Addis Ababa, was one of those arrested on Thursday.

'Amnesty is concerned that she is at high risk of torture or other ill-treatment,' the group warned in a statement, adding that Bekele was apparently arrested in relation with the distribution of an opposition plan for non-violent civil disobedience.

Michel's spokesman refused to confirm that Bekele was working for the commission but said that the Ethiopian EU delegation had been in regular contact with the opposition members in the country.

The chief observer for the EU during the Ethiopian elections on Thursday urged the EU to better protect local staff working for the bloc's delegations abroad.

'They EU is not only responsible for its European officials but also for their local people,' European Parliament deputy Ana Gomes told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

'We must stop pretending that Ethiopia is run by a respectable government when in fact it has a murderous and oppressive regime,' the Portuguese Socialist MEP said.

The EU is Ethiopia's largest trading partner and one of its biggest donors, but has criticized the country for violating political rights after last year's elections saw scores of opposition party members arrested by the government.

The bloc halted budgetary aid to Ethiopia in the wake of the poll and the wave of violence that followed.

State-owned Ethiopian TV reported Thursday that police had arrested the two EU diplomats for allegedly smuggling two Ethiopians wanted by authorities across the border to Kenya.

Their action move 'violates the sovereignty of the country while jeopardizing the security of the nation,' the report quoted a statement by Ethiopia's immigration department as saying.