WASHINGTON, DC – Ethiopian rebels on Saturday said they were ready to release two German hostages but feared an impending government attack may derail the process and turn the goodwill gesture into a bloody outcome.
The Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front (ARDUF), which on January 17 killed 16 soldiers near the famed Arta-Ale Volcano in Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia, said it had been in touch with German officials in Berlin and at German Embassy in Addis Ababa for the immediate release of the German hostages.
The two Germans are Bianca Irmer and Jurgen Quick, whom ARDUF said have been safe since taken into custody January 17. Five tourists – two Germans, two Hungarians and an Austrian – were killed during the clash between the rebels and Ethiopian government forces.
ARDUF accused Ethiopia of trying to exploit the ‘peaceful transfer of the tourists’ as a cover to launch an attack on the Afar people and neighboring Eritrea, which Ethiopia often accuses of being the mastermind of every rebel attack.
“Any military engagement with ARDUF would not only endanger the lives of
the two German citizens in our custody but also the safety of all the foreign
tourists that visit the Volcano areas of Afar region,” ARDUF said.
The rebel group also lashed out at those who referred to it with derision.
“ARDUF is neither a separatist organization nor bandit group, as some
international press ventured out to tell in their latest reports. But, ARDUF is an
Ethiopian Afar political organization fighting for the freedom of the Afar people
from political marginalization, economic and social deprivation,” the rebels said.
Eritrea has strongly denied any involvement in the combat which Afar rebels claimed as entirely of their own making. ARDUF has vowed to continue to fight against the Meles Zenawi regime until the dignity of the Afar people is restored.
