Intelligence

The Daily Record - NEWS - SAS POISED FOR HOSTAGES RESCUE

Elite troops fly out for desert mission

Source: The Daily Record - NEWS - SAS POISED FOR HOSTAGES RESCUE

MORE than 60 SAS troops flew to Africa yesterday as part of a mission to save five British hostages.

The crack squad will be on standby to free the hostages by force if negotiations and communications fail.

The tourist group were last seen on Thursday as they travelled through a remote desert area of Ethiopia.

Members of the SAS's Standby Squadron were last night flying to neighbouring Djibouti, where they will line up alongside men from the French Foreign Legion.

The squadron are part of the UK's global counter-terrorism team ready to fly anywhere in the world at an hour's notice.

An SAS captain and staff sergeant were already in Ethiopia assessing the situation with a Scotland Yard hostage negotiator.

Yesterday, diplomats were desperately trying to locate the hostages, who disappeared in searing heat in the Afar desert - a barren expanse of ancient salt mines and volcanoes.

The hostages, who are British embassy workers and their relatives, were sightseeing along with 13 Ethiopian guides near the disputed border with Eritrea.

Whitehall officials have admitted there is "a national security dimension" to the kidnapping.

The government emergency planning committee Cobra met last week to draw up a strategy.

But harsh terrain, poor communications and political squabbling between Ethiopia and Eritrea are complicating the rescue plan.

The SAS troops are prepared for long-range desert operations.

Two Chinook helicopters from RAF 7 Squadron have been dispatched to the area, loaded with Land Rovers, motorbikes and weapons designed for desert warfare.

The state-run Ethiopian News Agency reported yesterday that five of the Ethiopians with the tour group had been found safe.

It was not clear whether they had escaped or were released.

The Eritrean government denied claims that their troops had snatched the party and marched them across the border to a military camp.

Ismael Ali Sero, head of the Afar region in the north of Ethiopia, claimed about 25 Eritreans in military uniform had grabbed the tourists and guides, stealing money, mobile and satellite phones.

He said the cars used by the group were set on fire at the camp.

Yemane Gebremeskel, the director of Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki's office, said the claim was "crazy". He added: "No one is involved in any business of kidnapping."

Berharnu Kebede, Ethiopian ambassador to the UK, said: "We are not in the business of finger-pointing at any group or individual or any country.

"For us, the priority is to secure the safe return of these people."

Foreign Office minister Geoff Hoon said yesterday his department was "working as hard as we possibly can".

He said: "It is a matter of grave importance as it would be with any British tourist.

"But obviously staff in the Foreign Office feel particularly strongly because it is their people, their families, and a great deal of effort is being made to secure their freedom."

Adventure tourists are drawn to the moon-like landscape of Afar. But bandits are rife and travellers have to take armed guards

March 4, 2007 at 11:29 PM in SAS | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home