A search party scoured a remote northeastern region of Ethiopia today looking for a group of kidnapped Europeans, all linked to the British embassy in Addis Ababa.
Witnesses said the team found three damaged cars, one pierced with eight bullet holes, in the Afar region where the five foreigners went missing last week on a trip to one of the world's most hostile environments.
Several British newspapers, quoting defence sources, said London had sent SAS special forces to Ethiopia to help find the Westerners, who were seized near the border with Eritrea.
They were captured along with 13 Ethiopians working as drivers and translators. Five Ethiopians were later found close to the frontier.
"If, as has been speculated, the group is being held against their will, it may be they have been the victims of mistaken identity," Bob Dewar, Britain's ambassador to Ethiopia, said in a statement.
He also urged anyone in the Afar community with information about the kidnapped group to contact the British embassy or Ethiopian authorities, who he said were leading investigations.
Asmara has denied allegations by an Ethiopian official that forces from Arat military training camp in Eritrea carried out the kidnappings. Yesterday, Ethiopia, which has strained relations with its tiny neighbour following a 1998-2000 border war, said the identity of the kidnappers had yet to be established.
Fears for the missing travellers grew in Ethiopia's small British expatriate community as another day passed with no word of their whereabouts. In London, the Ministry of Defence declined to comment on reports that special forces personnel were in Ethiopia and a Foreign Office spokeswoman would not say whether Britain had sent hostage negotiators to the Horn of Africa country.
But she said the Foreign Office was in constant touch with the Ethiopian government, including Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was being kept fully informed on the situation.
Eritrea's ambassador to Britain, Negasse Senal, told the BBC his government was "working closely" with the British government.