British diplomats return to Ethiopia kidnap site

HAMAD-ILE, Ethiopia, Mar 11 (Reuters) British diplomats investigating the abduction of five Europeans kidnapped in a remote corner of Ethiopia 10 days ago, took possession of one of their shrapnel-riddled vehicles today.

Guarded by Ethiopian soldiers, the three-person team went to the village in the desert Afar region where gunmen snatched the Westerners -- all linked to the British embassy -- as locals waited for scouts to return with news of the missing.

''We came to take the car and to see what information we could pick up,'' said one diplomat, who asked not to be identified.

''There is nothing new.'' Locals in the tiny settlement within view of the famous salt beds of the Danakil Depression, known for its ancient volcanoes and rocky deserts, were waiting for the return of two men they had sent out on a scouting mission several days ago.

Villagers said they were convinced the attack was intended initially to target the local tax office, where salt traders have to pay a small revenue for each camel that passes through.

''They attacked the tax collectors first and robbed their money,'' said Osman Kalil, head of the local militia.

''As a secondary matter they found the foreigners who had only arrived the night before and took them hostage.'' Salt trader Hussein Ma'ar said he was marched four hours into the desert by the kidnappers before being released.

''I was sleeping when they came in the middle of the night. They beat me and told me to walk with them. But when we reached the salt beds, I had no shoes and could not cross so they sent me back,'' he said.

Amid speculation that British special forces in the area, London and Addis Ababa have, for now, ruled out an operation to rescue the hostages, who include three British men, one Italian-British woman and a French woman.

Ethiopia says it has had indirect contact with the kidnappers in an area where information filters through nomadic herders who meet in the desert, greet and swap news through a traditional means of communication known as ''Dagu''.

Reuters SP DB1852