Times of London
June 11, 1998

In Senafe on Tuesday, I witnessed the arrest of an alleged Ethiopian spy. The young man stood out from the crowd because of his features, typical of Ethiopia's majority Oromo tribe. He was suspected because he appeared lost in the town about 15 miles north of the front line. The youth, wearing a nylon sports shirt and tracksuit bottoms, was trapped by civilians before being beaten and slung into the back of an Eritrean army lorry heading for the front.

"Will he be shot?" an Eritrean official from the Ministry of Information was asked. "No. He's just a small boy. They gave him a dollar or two and just sent him out into the wilderness. He'll be made a prisoner of war," the official replied.

Eritrea claims to have captured more than 100 Ethiopians. Some have been seen apparently in good health but Asmara has so far refused the International Committee of the Red Cross, or foreign journalists, access to them.