ETHIOPIA: ONLF KILLINGS/KIDNAPPINGS OF CHINESE OIL

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 001308

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF, AF/E, AND S/CT:B.PHIPPS
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER
BEIJING FOR D.PARADISO
CJTF-HOA FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/27/2017
TAGS: PTER PINS ECON EPET ASEC PREF ET CH
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: ONLF KILLINGS/KIDNAPPINGS OF CHINESE OIL
WORKERS SIGNAL NEW REBEL TACTICS

REF: A. ADDIS ABABA 1291 (NOTAL)

B. IIR 6 830 0076 07 (NOTAL)

Classified By: AMBASSADOR DONALD YAMAMOTO. REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (S/NF) SUMMARY. The Ogaden National Liberation Front
(ONLF) has for the past six months threatened attacks on
economic development projects in Ethiopia's Somali (Ogaden)
Region being conducted by foreign workers, especially oil
exploration. In a shift in tactics in recent months, NGO
workers were no longer provided safe passage through the
Ogaden area by the ONLF. NGO workers and NGO project sites
have been robbed of personal property, vehicles, and
supplies. The April 24 killing of 9 Chinese oil workers and
over 80 Ethiopians, as well as the taking of 7 Chinese
hostages (ref A) signals a more aggressive and violent
approach by rebel groups to undercut international support
and investment that the ONLF sees as benefiting the Ethiopian
government, and the targeting of economic development
projects to hurt Ethiopia's economy. END SUMMARY.


2. (S/NF) The April 24 dawn attack by some 200 ONLF rebels at
a Chinese oil facility near the Somali border in the Ogaden,
signals more violent and aggressive new tactics by forces
opposed to the Ethiopian government. In a statement emailed
to post and to international media, the ONLF took credit for
the attack, which resulted in the deaths of 9 Chinese workers
and over 80 Ethiopians as well as scores injured. According
to sensitive sources (ref B),some 34 ENDF troops were also
killed or wounded. Seven Chinese were taken hostage by the
rebel group. The Chinese firm used its three helicopters to
medevac casualties to Harar; media also reported casualties
being brought to Addis Ababa.


3. (S/NF) According to GOE officials, the attack was well
planned and professionally executed. Over 100 Ethiopian
National Defense Force (ENDF) troops stood guard over the
Chinese facility, located 65 miles south of the regional
capital Jijiga and only 20 miles from Ethiopia's border with
Somalia (Somaliland). Initial reports from the area stated
that the Ethiopians were completely overwhelmed by the number
of rebels and by the surprise of the attack. The Ethiopian
government senior leadership has been behind closed doors
developing a response to the attacks.


4. (SBU) The Ambassador has been in close touch with the
Chinese Charge d'Affaires, offering assistance and expressing
condolences. Post has sent letters of condolences to the
Chinese Embassy and to Prime Minister Meles. Donor country
representatives, through the Addis Ababa-based "Ethiopia
Partners Group," will issue a statement today "expressing
dismay at the massacre," which will, inter alia, also
"condemn the killings as well as the subsequent abductions,"
"call for the immediate and safe release of the abducted
individuals," and "reiterate their belief that the resolution
of disagreements should be sought through peaceful means."

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FOREIGN EXTRACTION OF MINERAL RESOURCES ANGERS REBELS
-------------- --------------


5. (C) The facility was operated by the Zhongyuan Petroleum
Exploration Bureau (ZPEB),affiliated with China's largest
producer and supplier of oil products, the state-owned China
Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC). ZPEB's
operations in Africa include drilling in both Sudan and
Nigeria, as well as activities in Ethiopia's Somali and
Gambella Regions. The ZPEB facility's Addis Ababa-based
security manager, a UK national, informed RSO that he
expected additional attacks in Gode and Gambella. It is not
known what additional security precautions, if any, ZPEB is
undertaking.


6. (U) ZPEB was contracted by Malaysian oil company Petronas,
which has at least four oil exploration licenses for
Ethiopia. According to Chinese state-run media, Petronas was
one of 19 foreign firms who submitted letters of interest to
the GOE in April 2006 in response to an announcement by

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Ethiopia's Ministry of Mines and Energy to develop these
Calub and Hilala gas fields in the eastern Somali region.
Since 2004, Petronas has also been prospecting for crude oil
in Ethiopia's Gambella Region, near the Sudanese border,
contracting ZPEB to drill exploration wells. International
NGOs assert that the ZPEB facility in Gambella, another
region which has experienced major clashes between the
civilian population and the Ethiopian military in the past,
is guarded by ENDF troops who have displaced local residents.


7. (U) The ONLF has publicly warned other foreign businesses
to avoid commercial exploitation in Ethiopia's Somali Region.
On November 7, 2006, Swedish-listed Lundin Petroleum (which
also operates in Sudan, Iran, and Russia) announced a
production-sharing contract with the GOE, for the exploration
and production of oil and gas in a 24,420 square kilometer
area of the Ogaden Basin. Lundin noted that given the
Basin's size, only minimal exploration activities had been
undertaken (fewer than 70 wells drilled),with Hunt Oil
having drilled the most recent well in the Basin in 1995. In
response, the ONLF issued a letter on November 12, 2006,
distributed to post and the media, stating, inter alia, that
"exploratory activities... in designated areas of our
homeland... are both unrealistic and unwelcome by the people
of Ogaden." The ONLF warned that despite security guarantees
by the GOE, "the regime is not now nor has it ever been in
effective control of the Ogaden. ... The areas covered by
the PSC signed between you and the Ethiopian regime are well
within our scope of military operations and as such the
security of your operations cannot be guaranteed."


8. (U) The November 12 ONLF letter noted: "While we have no
dispute with Lundin Petroleum, the ONLF as a matter of policy
cannot permit the exploitation of mineral resources in the
Ogaden until such time that a legitimate form of self-
government exits in Ogaden. We have made this clear to
several companies which have expressed a similar interest in
Ogaden, including Petronas of Malaysia, as well as Gail and
the Gujuarat State Petroleum Corporation of India, among
others."

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VICIOUS ATTACK SIGNALS CHANGE IN REBEL TACTICS
-------------- -


9. (C) The ONLF has not been known for its aggressive attacks
on foreigners or foreign operated projects. Attacks have
been primarily focused on Ethiopian troops. In an April 26
meeting organized by Embassy REFCOORD, NGO officials reported
a shift in security in the Ogaden in the past six months.
They reported that in the past, NGO workers were allowed to
operate freely in the Ogaden and were not harassed by the
ONLF, so long as they were not transporting government
workers or directly connected to the GOE. In the past six
months, however, harassment has increased, including stopping
vehicles more frequently. Over the past two months, the ONLF
has begun robbing workers during the vehicle stops, taking
personal property, clothes, vehicles and supplies.


10. (S/NF) COMMENT: This new, more violent tactic targeting
economic development projects and foreign workers by rebel
groups in the Ogaden signals a dramatic shift in rebel
efforts towards crippling Ethiopia's economy and discouraging
foreign investment. This new aggressiveness could stem from
pressure by the Eritrean government on the ONLF to step up
its efforts, or simply reflect the ONLF's desire to prevent
the implementation of gas exploration deals against its
wishes. Of concern is whether the ONLF attack will embolden
other local armed elements to strike against economic targets
in other regions: e.g., the ZPEB oil facility in Gambella,
or state-run salt extraction and sugar factories in the Afar
region where ARDUF rebels have long fought against the GOE
(septel).


11. (S/NF) Ambassador met with Chinese Embassy officers April
27 to discuss the attack. According to the Chinese DCM,
Zhang Yuebang, the Chinese survivors reported that the
attackers wore blue-colored uniforms and were well-trained.

ADDIS ABAB 00001308 003 OF 003


The attackers also stole vehicles, money, clothes and
supplies. The Chinese Embassy is so concerned about the
safety of the seven hostages that they have cautioned the
Ethiopian government to refrain from taking armed retaliation
for fear that the Chinese hostages will be harmed by the
rebels. (NOTE: Ethiopian Federal Police wear BDUs in blue
camouflage. While one cannot completely discount police
involvement, it is more likely that the uniforms were stolen.
END NOTE.)


12. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: The Embassy is placing most parts
of the Ogaden off-limits for travel and work, including
humanitarian work. International NGOs, as well as UN
agencies such as the WFP, are reassessing and downsizing
their programs near the Somali border. The Embassy is also
examining other areas of increasing concern:
-- In Gambella Region, bordering Sudan, small arms are
becoming more numerous, with NGOs and Addis AQa-based
Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) contacts reporting that
the Khartoum government, with assistance from Eritrea, is
rearming rebel groups near the Sudan-Ethiopian border. These
groups have recently been active on the Ethiopian side of the
border; a recent incursion by 500 Murle tribesmen from
southern Sudan killed 26 Ethiopian villagers.
-- Near the Ethiopia-Eritrean border, Shimelba, a refugee
camp for Eritreans fleeing to Ethiopia, is experiencing
steady flows of Eritrean youths crossing the border (250-350
per month),and a second camp is being planned. Eritrean
refugees consistently report killings by Eritrean troops of
people trying to escape over the border. There is some
concern that as a second camp is constructed, the Eritrean
government, in an effort to stem the flow of youths fleeing
to Ethiopia in order to escape military service, may decide
to attack these camps for Eritrean refugees.
Post will follow these areas closely and track shifts in the
security situation. END COMMENT.
YAMAMOTO