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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Jun 10 2011 - 18:04:16 EDT
FCO presses Eritrea for access to Britons held as spies
10 June 2011 Last updated at 11:05 GMT
The Foreign Office (FCO) is continuing to press Eritrea for consular access
to four Britons held there since December on spying and terrorism charges.
The Eritrean government says the men were detained as they tried to leave
Eritrean waters without permission and searches then found a weapons cache.
The private security firm the men work for says they were en route to
provide security for ships in the region.
The FCO has imposed sanctions on Eritrean diplomats in the UK.
A Foreign Office spokesman told the BBC: "We continue to press for consular
access at the highest level with the Eritrean government.
"We have been urgently seeking consular access but we haven't had a response
as yet."
A media release attributed to Eritrea's foreign ministry alleges the four
Britons have "fully admitted" illegally entering sovereign Eritrean land
bearing arms.
'Attempted to flee'
It says the men have also admitted trying to escape from the Eritrean port
of Massawa and have "expressed regret for their actions".
The statement says the Eritrean navy fired warning shots at the men's boats
after they made "an attempt to flee" without legal clearance on 24 December.
Eritrean officials searched the island of Romia "where a cache of sniper
weapons fitted with silencers, telescopes, distance-monitoring equipments
were secured," the statement said.
"Moreover, night-vision binoculars equipped with GPS, together with
poison-tipped bullets, bullet-proof vests, specialized communication
equipments, as well as V-SAT satellite telephones were seized during the
search."
Protection Vessels International (PVI), the private security firm the men
work for, says the men had stopped off to resupply and that the incident was
a misunderstanding.
In a statement, PVI said the men had realised the "potentially threatening
presence of an armed security company making a normal port call for
resupply", so had decided to off-load some of its equipment on the island
first.
"This equipment included weapons, optics, radios, helmets, body armour and
navigation equipment, standard issue for anti-piracy operations, PVI's
primary function," PVI's statement said.
'Misconception'
The firm added: "The company acknowledges that its personnel mishandled the
situation and we deeply regret the situation we find ourselves in.
"We simply needed to conduct a port call and we very much regret any
misconception of presenting a threat to the president of Eritrea and to the
Eritrean people."
In response to the lack of consular access to the four Britons, the Foreign
Office has imposed sanctions on Eritrean diplomats in the UK.
On 4 May the Eritrean ambassador was informed that, with immediate effect,
Eritrean diplomats and visiting officials would be required to obtain the
FCO's written permission before travelling beyond London.
On 20 May the ambassador was informed that aspects of the collection of a
tax levied by the Eritrean government on Eritreans living in the UK may be
unlawful and in breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The ambassador was told that, until it was demonstrated otherwise, the
embassy should immediately suspend all activities relating to the collection
of the tax.
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