Ethiopia: Recent tourist attack denied by Eritrea (VIDEO)
Unidentified tourists, part of the group that were attacked in Ethiopia’s Afar region, arrive at Bole International airport in Addis Ababa on Janu. 18, 2012. Two Germans, two Hungarians and one Austrian were killed by gunmen near the Erta Ale volcano in in Ethiopia’s remote north early Jan. 17. The Ethiopian government blamed Eritrean rebels for the attack, in which two foreigners were also kidnapped and two foreigners were injured. Eritrea vehemently denied they were behind the killings.
NAIROBI, Kenya — Politics is a dirty business, of course, but using the murder of innocent people to score political points is about as low as it gets.
Not that this has stopped Ethiopia and Eritrea who are both sending forth missives from their embassies to journalists blaming each other for the attack in a remote part of Ethiopia earlier this week that left five European tourists dead and two missing, presumed kidnapped.
Read more on GlobalPost: Tourists kidnapped after five killed in attack near Eritrea
Ethiopia went first, blaming Eritrea for the attack within hours of it happening.
In a statement the government said: "It is already clear that the attack was carried out with the direct involvement of the Eritrean Government."
Perhaps, but where is the evidence?
The statement contains one sentence expressing "condolences" to the families of the dead while the remainder of the two-page document is given over to bashing Eritrea, its old and bitter enemy.
Read more on GlobalPost: Ethiopia tourists killed in remote Afar region
Soon afterwards came the riposte from Eritrea accusing Ethiopia of "mendaciously implicating" it in the attack and then going on to argue that the Ethiopian regime's "narrow policies of exclusion and marginalization" had given rise to armed groups on its own territory.
It's as clear as mud who is responsible for this awful attack — Eritrean sponsored rebels or homegrown Ethiopian ones, or a group that is both at once — but using these murders to open yet another skirmish in their endless hostilities is a low point for both countries.
Read more on GlobalPost: Eritrea denies arming Shabaab, again
Here's a video about the recent tourist attack:
