Egyptian army merely provided transportation, on its own initiative, to the repatriates from Libya, according to well-placed sources in the government.
The repatriates who were transited through Cairo airport yesterday received a warm welcome by President Al-Sisi. Egyptian media chose to spin the occasion as a rescue operation.
A source in the Ethiopian government, however, told HornAffairs, “there was no rescue operation; the returnees were in a government controlled area “.
Efforts to repatriate Ethiopians from the conflict-stricken Libya began after Islamic State released a video of the beheading of Ethiopian Christians three weeks ago. More than 200 citizens are registered through phone numbers provided by Addis Ababa.
A delegation led by Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom (PhD) spent most of the last week shuttling between Cairo and Khartoum to lay down the evacuation plans in concert with Sudanese and Egyptian officials, HornAffairs learnt. Our sources commended the Libyan Embassy in Addis Ababa for its vital role, which we are advised not to detail for the security of subsequent activities.
The first round returnees, consisting about eleven citizens, arrived Addis Ababa on Wednesday transiting through Khartoum, Sudan.
The second round returnees have arrived Addis Ababa, through Cairo, yesterday. The returnees, totaling 35, established contact through facebook message, as Minister Tedros Adhanom disclosed on his page today.
HornAffairs’ sources elaborated that the government had already paid for Air Libya to travel them to Cairo yesterday evening. Ethiopian Airlines regional offices handled the arrangements.
However, Egyptian officials, who are informed of the repatriation plan, somehow chose to send a military plane to pick the returnees around noon and have them received by Al-Sisi.
It came as a surprise to Ethiopians officials who had planned to have a senior official receive the returnees in Cairo. The situation further disturbed reception plans in Addis Ababa as the timetable was changed by about eight hours.
The unscheduled flight and reception as well as subsequent media reports of “rescue operation” have the footprints an opportunistic media circus. It is to be noted that Egyptian media have been full-swing glorifying the President, since the ouster of President Morsi, to the extent of suggesting him for the Nobel Prize.
Our source in the Ethiopian government remarked “the Egyptians were helpful, as were the Sudanese and Libya diplomats. We don’t wish to claim exclusive credit for everything.” Adding that, “there was no rescue operation; the returnees were in a government controlled area”.
It is intuitive, however, Addis Ababa would be incensed by the Egyptians’ public relations coup at a time when it needs to show something to a domestic constituency enraged by Islamic State’s execution.
The third round returnees, about 50 people, are expected to transit Khartoum tonight and arrive home tomorrow.
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Correction: Earlier version of this news read as if Ethiopian Airlines itself was supposed to transport the returnees. That was corrected.
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