UN says last of at least 16 staffers held in Ethiopia freed

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations says the last of its staff member detained by the Ethiopian government has been released. This ends a months-long effort to gain freedom for at least 16 U.N. employees picked up since late October during the ongoing war in the country’s north. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Friday that two other U.N. staffers were freed “in the past few days.” All three were Ethiopian nationals. A government spokesman said in November that the U.N. staffers were held for their “participation in terror” under a state of emergency. Dujarric said the U.N. was never given a reason.