Asmara searches for 1,000 missing

In a statement, the Eritrean Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that some 1,000 Eritrean or Ethiopian citizens of Eritrean origin were missing several months ago in Ethiopia.

Asmara added that it extended "an invitation to several humanitarian organizations" in an attempt to release those people if they are arrested. The statement made it clear that a list of all names of the missing was drawn up in accordance to information from the missing relatives and families.

The statement added that the Ethiopian police detained persons who have been living for a very long time in Ethiopia who are of Eritrea's origin, but did not expel them to Eritrea.

The statement stressed that the missing people are also not detained in the Blateen prisoners camp in southern Ethiopia.

Asmara accuses Addis Ababa of expelling 55,000 Eriterean or Ethiopian citizens of Eritrean origin since the beginning of the conflict in May 1998. Eritrea also stresses that more than 1,500 Eritrean civilian youthd are detained in Blateen camp, whereas the Ethiopian authorities accuse Asmara of expelling 40,521 Ethiopians.

The two countries are exchanging accusations of "human rights violations" in dealing with each other's citizens, MENA reported.