The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has temporarily suspended its activities in Ethiopia's Somali region where an Irishman and his Ethiopian colleague were kidnapped, officials said today.
Donal Ó Súilleabháin (41) from Colgagh, Co Sligo, was working as a hydrogeologist for the Irish Red Cross when he was kidnapped along with an Ethiopian colleague just north of Gode, in the remote south-eastern Ogaden area.
A spokesman for the ICRC said the body had made contact with the organisation behind the kidnapping. They were satisfied the two detainees were safe and not being mistreated. Negotiations are ongoing to secure their release, he said.
Kurg Eglin, deputy head of the ICRC in Ethiopia, said that all field activities in the Somali region have been halted temporarily. "We're not pulling out of the Somali region, but we're halting operations until the kidnap saga ends," he said.
"We are trying to persuade the perpetrators that the aid workers were in the area doing their routine work related to improved access to clean water for the people of the region and that ICRC has no other motives," Patrick Megezand, an ICRC information officer, said.
The Ethiopian government has open an investigation into the kidnapping in the region, where the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front, a movement of ethnic Somalis fighting for independence, is known to be active.
Additional reporting Reuters