Abandoned British Embassy Vehicles in Ethiopia 🚗

(5 Mar 2007)
Hamedali, Ethiopia
1. Shot-up British Embassy vehicles abandoned on the side of the road
2. Bullet holes in car
3. Various interiors of the car - with clothes, food and cameras
4. Close of licence plate on vehicle
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
5. Various of British Ambassador Bob Dewar arriving at press conference
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bob Dewar, British Ambassador to Ethiopia
"The welfare of all of those who are missing is our absolute priority."
Hamedali, Ethiopia
7. Bullet holes in car
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bob Dewar, British Ambassador to Ethiopia
"If, as has been speculated, the group is being held against their will, it may be they have been victims of mistaken identity. Whatever the case, there will be those in the community who are willing and able to facilitate their safe return."
Brussels, Belgium
10. Tilt-up of European Union Council building
11. Close of EU flags
12. Medium of EU member flags
13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Margaret Beckett, British Foreign Secretary:
"No further developments as far as we know, but obviously we are doing everything we can to get more information and also to try to help and support their families and do all that can be done to look for them and try and get them out of there safely."
(Reporter Question: ++inaudible++)
"I'm sorry, I'm not going to go into any details. The safety of those people is of paramount importance to all of us."
14. Wide exterior of EU Council with cars waiting for ministers
Hamedali, Ethiopia
15. Various of abandoned pick up truck
STORYLINE:
Two bullet-ridden British embassy vehicles were filmed by Associated Press Television News abandoned by the side of the road on Monday in the village of Hamedali where five Britons linked to the embassy in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa disappeared last week.
An AP Television cameraman came across the two vehicles in Hamedali, a remote village that is the last staging post before the region's famous salt lakes.
The sides of each vehicle were riddled with bullet-holes.
The tour group, which also included 13 Ethiopian drivers and translators, went missing on Thursday while travelling in Ethiopia's Afar region, a barren expanse of salt mines and volcanoes 800 kilometres (500 miles) northeast of the capital.
Residents of the regional capital, Mekele, said they had seen and spoken to members of Britain's elite special operations forces in the region, working to secure the Britons' release.
Speaking to reporters in Addis Ababa on Monday, British Ambassador to Ethiopia Bob Dewar said "the welfare of all of those who are missing is our absolute priority."
If the group were being held against its will, as has been speculated, it could be a case of mistaken identity, he continued, adding; "whatever the case, there will be those in the community who are willing and able to facilitate their safe return."
Meanwhile, in Brussels on Monday, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Britain was doing everything it could to locate the five missing Britons.
Talking on the sidelines of an European Union foreign ministers meeting, Beckett said the safety of the tourists was of "paramount importance," but was not prepared to go into any details.

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