Ethiopia Closes Somalia Embassy After Incident
Tue., May 2, 1995
Ethiopia closed its embassy in Mogadishu on Monday, a day after kidnappers released its charge d’affaires unharmed after 21 days in captivity.
Yamani Abdi’s abductors said they had sought compensation for a truckload of electronic equipment Ethiopian customs agents seized at a border post.
The Ethiopian government said the kidnappers were smugglers trying to evade legitimate customs duties.
The Ethiopian government made no official statement, but Ambassador Lisane Yohanes, Yamani and the embassy’s only other Ethiopian employee left Monday, and sources said they would not return.
The departure of the Ethiopians leaves only Sudan and the Palestine Liberation Organization with a diplomatic presence in Somalia.
Local journalism is essential.
Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are not tax deductible, but are predominately used to help meet the local financial requirements needed to receive national matching-grant funds.
Subscribe now to get breaking news alerts in your email inbox
Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens.
