Red Cross Deplores Ethiopian Expulsion
Guardian Unlimited, UK - July 26, 2007
The Red Cross denied government allegations it was helping rebels in Ethiopia's volatile east, and said Thursday its expulsion from the region will restrict people's access to basic services.
The government has given the International Committee of the Red Cross one week - until Monday - to leave the area known as the Somali regional state, accusing it of helping ethnic Somali rebels from the Ogaden National Liberation Front.
"A suspension of ICRC activities will inevitably have a negative impact on the population concerned, whose access to basic services will be reduced," said Daniel Duvillard, ICRC's head of operations for the Horn of Africa. The Red Cross conducts water and sanitation projects in the east.
The rebels, who have been fighting the government for more than a decade, earlier accused Ethiopia of blockading aid to their region near the Somali border for nearly two months ...