The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can confirm that three journalists of the New York Times were detained by Ethiopian soldiers in the Somali Regional State, in eastern Ethiopia in the town of Degahbur last week. They were subsequently sent to Jijiga before being taken to Addis Ababa. They have now left Ethiopia.  

Jeffery Gettleman, the NY Times correspondent in Nairobi, and his two colleagues, had come to Ethiopia as tourists, not on any news gathering assignment. They specifically requested visas by email to visit Gondar, Axum and Lalibela in northern Ethiopia. As such they were welcome.   

Mr Gettleman and his colleagues were detained at Degahbur in southeast Ethiopia. This is a town not far from Abole, where a major terrorist outrage, the killing of 65 Ethiopian and 9 Chinese workers was committed by the Eritrean backed Ogaden National Liberation Front at the end of April. It is an area where security forces have been carrying out operations in search of the perpetrators of these killings.  

For this reason, security in and around Degahbur is unusually tight at the moment. The arrival of three journalists, posing as tourists, aroused interest, and suspicion. This indeed is why they were detained.  

We do not accept that any of the three were “manhandled”. Nor are we aware that they were denied an opportunity to communicate with the American Embassy or with civilian officials.      

MFA   24.5.2007