Ethiopia PM thanks Egypt for freeing Libya-held citizens

CAIRO 

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on Thursday thanked Egypt for rescuing Ethiopian nationals held in Libya, the Egyptian presidency has said.

It said in a statement that Hailemariam made a phone call with President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi during which expressed "gratitude" for Egyptian efforts to free Ethiopians in Libya.

According to the statement, the Ethiopian premier said he was looking forward to visiting Egypt in June to attend a summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which will be held in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Al-Sisi, meanwhile, said that both Egyptians and Ethiopians had a common fate.

Earlier Thursday, television footage showed the Egyptian President shaking hands with Ethiopian nationals who arrived at Cairo Airport on board of an Egyptian plane.

At the airport, al-Sisi said his country would continue to offer help to its African sister states.

"We want to send the message to our Ethiopian brothers that they can count on us," al-Sisi told the media.

Al-Sisi added that the Ethiopian nationals who arrived in Egypt on Thursday were only the first group of other nationals freed by Egypt after being held in Libya.

Freed Ethiopians held 'by Libya govt, not terrorists'

Ethiopians said to have been freed by Egypt after having been held captive in war-torn Libya said Friday that they had not been abducted by Libyan terrorist groups but, rather, had been detained by government authorities based in eastern Libya.

"Our release was overseen by Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom and the Libyan embassy in Addis Ababa," Girma Almu, 23, one of the returning Ethiopian nationals, said.

"We were held in jails in the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk for eight months," he said in remarks to the press upon his return to Addis Ababa.

He said his country's foreign minister and the Libyan embassy in Addis Ababa had secured their release – along with their transfer to Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria – before they were flown to Cairo.

Almu added that the Ethiopian embassy in Cairo had borne the cost of the freed nationals' flight tickets.

On Thursday, Egyptian state television showed Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi receiving the released Ethiopians at Cairo International Airport.

Al-Sisi said the group was only one of several other groups scheduled to arrive from Libya at a later date.

Another returning Ethiopian national said he had spent one year and five months – including eight months in jail – in the fractious North African nation.

"I thank the Ethiopian government for helping us get out of prison, where we lost our sense of human dignity," Siraj Tusa told reporters at Addis Ababa airport upon his return.

He said he and other captive Ethiopians had been deprived of food and water for long periods.

Tusa noted that Adhanom's intervention had led to the transfer of the prisoners to Libya's eastern city of Al-Bayda, where conditions were better.

"I feel like I was born again," Tusa said upon his return to his homeland.  

He said he was unaware of any military operation carried out to free him and his fellow captives.

A third returning Ethiopian, meanwhile, said he had been arrested by Libya's Tobruk-based authorities – along with six of his countrymen – before joining other Ethiopians in jail.

"The Libyan authorities forced us to join the returning Ethiopians," Mohamed Abdel-Fattah said.

He added that seven prisoners who had managed to escape were later rearrested by Libyan security forces and told to join the group returning to Ethiopia.

Abdel-Fattah said he had asked the Ethiopian foreign minister and the Libyan embassy in Addis Ababa to help him recover his belongings, some of which he had left behind in Libya.

Adhanom, for his part, said the government had begun looking into the case of the captive Ethiopians on April 18, when Almu had sent him a Facebook message telling him that 30 Ethiopians were being held in a prison in eastern Libya.

Speaking at Addis Ababa airport, he said he had then summoned Libya's ambassador to Ethiopia to inquire about the status of Ethiopians reportedly languishing in Libyan jails.

According to Adhanom, the Libyan ambassador then contacted his government back home and secured the release of the imprisoned Ethiopians.

He said both Egypt and Sudan had facilitated the repatriation of the Ethiopian nationals from Libya.

Adhanom added that ten Ethiopians had come home via Sudan on Wednesday, while 30 others had returned via Egypt.

The FM went on to praise the cooperation seen between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt to secure the captives' release.

Ethiopia hails Egypt efforts to help its Libya workers

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom on Friday praised Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi for helping Ethiopian nationals leave crisis-hit Libya.

"This stance reflects President al-Sisi's care for the people of Ethiopia," Adhanom said in a statement broadcast by Ethiopian television, adding that the president's efforts were "welcomed and appreciated by Ethiopia."

The governments of Egypt, Sudan and Libya, Adhanom said, had all stood by Ethiopia to facilitate the return of its citizens from Libya.

He went on to note that "the special diplomatic ties" between the three countries were beginning to "manifest in cooperation on all fronts."

Ethiopia's top diplomat also urged his countrymen to refrain from attempts at illegal immigration, which, he warned, posed "real dangers to their lives, especially the youth."

On Thursday, Egyptian state television showed al-Sisi shaking hands with a group of Ethiopian nationals who had arrived at Cairo International Airport aboard an Egyptian plane.

At the airport, al-Sisi said his country would continue to provide help to its sister African states.

"We want to send the message to our Ethiopian brothers that they can count on us," al-Sisi told reporters.

He added that the Ethiopian nationals who arrived in Egypt on Thursday were among a number of other Ethiopian nationals freed by Egypt after having been detained in Libya.