Ethiopia evicts Red Cross from volatile region

A flag of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is seen at its headquarters in Geneva, 2006. Ethiopian authorities have ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross to pull out of the volatile Ogaden region for allegedly interfering in political issues.

Addis Ababa , July 25, 2007 – Ethiopian authorities have ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross to pull out of the volatile Ogaden region for allegedly interfering in political issues, officials said Wednesday.

"We have asked the ICRC to leave the region within seven days because they have been meddling in the region's affairs," said Jema Ahmed Jema, the vice president of the region.

The eastern region is also known as Somali and shelters an ethnic Somali rebellion -- the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) -- on which the government is trying to keep a lid.

"We had issued verbal warnings before and now we have given them a final ultimatum," Jema added.

He accused aid agencies of falsely claiming that the Ethiopian army was blockading aid in the region.

"We have information that they have been acting outside their mandate, they have been spreading lies and false accusations against the region," Jema explained.

The ICRC office in the capital Addis Ababa could not immediately be reached for comment.

Earlier this week, the United Nations' food agency said that military operations against the rebels were slowing down the delivery of humanitarian aid.

At the beginning of July, New York-based Human Rights Watch accused Addis Ababa of slapping a trade blockade on the impoverished region since June, with few goods -- including food -- permitted into the area.

The ONLF, formed in 1984, is fighting for the independence of Ogaden, a region which is suspected of holding large oil and natural gas reserves and which rebels say has been marginalized by Addis Ababa.

Source: AFP