VZCZCXRO1684
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHDS #2663/01 2691531
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251531Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2168
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEPADJ/CJTF HOA PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEWMFD/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 002663 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PHUM EAID PGOV ET
SUBJECT: INSURGENTS STOP/DETAIN NGO STAFF IN OGADEN 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Two NGO teams have been detained in rural encounters with 
insurgent/extremist groups in the Ogaden areas of Ethiopia's Somali 
region in the past week.  As NGOs report increased access in the 
Ogaden, the incidence of such encounters is also likely to continue, 
and grow.  Roadblocks by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) 
insurgents have generally not harmed, robbed, or kidnapped 
humanitarian workers.  Encounters with extremist groups -- such as 
the United Western Somali Liberation Front (UWSLF), Al-Itihaad 
al-Islami (AIAI), or al-Shabaab -- result in more varied, and 
threatening, experiences.  Fundamentally, the remote, ungoverned 
areas of the Somali region continue to present a significant 
potential security threat and military (ENDF) escorts often remain 
necessary.  Post will continue to balance carefully policy gains 
against risks in considering travel for mission personnel in the 
region.  End Summary. 
 
AIAI DELAYS IRC TEAM 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On September 16, a team from the International Rescue 
Committee (IRC) was stopped at a roadblock manned by armed 
individuals claiming to represent al-Itihaad.  The team of one 
Nepali and three Ethiopians was detained en route from Kebri Dehar 
to Degehabur after briefing the Ambassador and visiting USAID 
Assistant Administrator Mike Hess.  After being questioned about 
their identity, activities, and purpose of travel for approximately 
two to three hours, the gunmen relieved the IRC team of about 8,000 
birr and their Thuraya satellite telephone before allowing them to 
proceed.  The gunmen threatened to kill the group and waved guns in 
their faces.  The group continued on the road but was stopped by a 
second unidentified, but non-hostile group for several minutes. 
Having reported at the Ethiopian military check-point outside of 
Kebri Dehar upon commencing their travel, the team's delayed, 
after-dark arrival in Gunagado -- the last town before Degehabur -- 
got the ENDF's attention.  As a result, the ENDF impounded the IRC 
team's vehicles, subjecting the staff members to de facto "town 
arrest" in Gunagado until senior instructions from ENDF commanders 
in Jijiga and Harar were received.  As per standard operating 
procedures respected by the NGOs, they did not report their 
encounter with AIAI to ENDF or local officials.  (Comment: Given the 
seriousness of this particular incident it is unclear to us why IRC 
did not tell the ENDF. This was not a chance encounter with the ONLF 
who have been consistently friendly to NGOs.  End Comment.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) On September 19 the ENDF escorted the IRC staff to the 
Somali regional capital Jijiga where they held a joint meeting with 
regional officials.  According to IRC officials, the Somali regional 
government officials pressed for the IRC team's release, but the 
ENDF rejected such a move.  While there was discussion to release 
the Nepali expatriate, IRC reported that the ENDF remained "angry" 
with the IRC Ethiopian staff members for being "unaccounted for" in 
the bush.  On September 22, the ENDF handed the IRC team over to 
federal police custody, and they were eventually released shortly 
after noon. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Despite a UNDSS security report speculating that the IRC 
team may have been detained by the UWSLF, callers claiming to 
represent UWSLF called IRC representatives in Jijiga on September 25 
denying that it was not UWSLF that had detained the team. 
 
 
MEDECINS DU MONDE STAFF KIDNAPPED 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) On September 23, two expatriate staff members of French NGO 
Medecins Du Monde (MDM) were kidnapped near Shilabo, south of Kebri 
Dehar.  While their Ethiopian driver was released, Hareri Hassan 
Barre, Commissioner for Somalia's Balanbale district reported to the 
press that the expat staff members had been taken into Somalia.  A 
French embassy source noted that the two were believed to be one 
Japanese and one Finnish national.  As the hostage takers are now 
demanding a ransom for the foreigners' release, Post believes that 
the kidnapping may be the work of al Shabaab or individuals 
affiliated or inspired by them.  The ONLF distributed a press 
release on September 23 condemning the abduction and its potential 
to disrupt the international community's efforts to alleviate 
humanitarian conditions in the region. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) As NGO access expands throughout the Ogaden, encounters 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00002663  002 OF 002 
 
 
with armed gunmen opposed to the Ethiopian Government are likely to 
increase.  While NGO encounters with the ONLF over the past couple 
of years have consistently consisted of questioning followed by 
unhindered release (and the ONLF has unilaterally initiated 
ceasefires where they have known humanitarian teams were being 
deployed and called for humanitarian corridors), encounters with 
other groups have taken various forms.  Until now expatriates have, 
at most, been robbed.  The MDM staff kidnapping, however, marks a 
notable change in tactics, of which we are not yet able to attribute 
to a specific group.  While the sustained Ethiopian security and 
military presence in major towns has exempted these quasi-urban 
areas from armed insurgent activity affecting humanitarian groups, 
the rural majority of the Ogaden region remains largely ungoverned. 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Persistent government suspicion of NGOs collaborating with 
"anti-peace elements" will likely sustain IRC-like secondary 
detentions of NGOs by the ENDF after initial encounters with 
anti-government groups.  Post will continue to press the Ethiopian 
Government to understand that such encounters do not indicate 
collaboration, and to facilitate humanitarian access to vulnerable 
populations within the prevailing security climate in the Ogaden. 
Post will also actively track location and trends in such encounters 
to ensure that USG personnel can continue to access the region to 
achieve policy objectives without exposing staff to unnecessary 
risk.  End Comment. 
 
YAMAMOTO