NEWS
Sudan accues Ethiopian authorities of negligence in the killing of two relief workers in Addis Ababa
Reuters World Service
September 11, 1995
Sudan dismissed on Monday the results of an Ethiopian investigation into the killing of two Sudanese relief workers in Addis Ababa, insisting the men were killed by professionals.
In a statement faxed to Reuters from the Sudanese embassy in Cairo, Khartoum repeated accusations of negligence by Ethiopian authorities, saying the Ethiopian report that the men were murdered by disgruntled colleagues was untrue.
“The Sudanese government refuses the Ethiopian explanation that the incident happened because of work- related disagreements in light of the professional manner (in which) the operation took place,” the statement said.
Mohammad al-Fatih and Abdalla al-Jaali, both working for the Islamic Relief Organisation, were shot dead on September 3. They were killed a day after Ethiopia announced sanctions against Sudan, accusing Khartoum’s military government of sheltering three “terrorists” who attempted to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa in June. Mubarak himself has blamed Sudan for the attack.
“The Ethiopian government is requested to glean the truth and take the same measures it did in the investigation of the attempt to assassinate the Egyptian president because this is no less crucial,” it said.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Amr Moussa was in Addis Ababa on Monday for a meeting of the Organisation of African Unity’s conflict resolution committee. The committee was expected to hear Egyptian and Ethiopian complaints against Sudan over the assassination bid.
This will be the first formal referral of Egyptian and Ethiopian complaints against Sudan to a multilateral organisation. Measures against Khartoum through the Arab League in Cairo or through the United Nations could follow later.
Last Friday Ethiopia told Sudan to shrink its diplomatic mission embassy in Addis Ababa, stopped flights between the two countries and expelled Sudanese relief organisations in protest at Khartoum’s failure to hand over the three men.
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