UK diplomats clash over Briton on death row in Ethiopia: Officials' fury after Foreign Secretary claims he couldn't 'find time' to help father-of-three facing execution

UK diplomats clash over Briton on death row in Ethiopia: Officials' fury after Foreign Secretary claims he couldn't 'find time' to help father-of-three facing execution

Andargachew Tsege was snatched by officials at Yemen airport last June
The 59-year-old was transferred to Ethiopia where he is thought to remain
Father-of-three moved to London in 1979 from native African country
He was dubbed 'Ethiopian Mandela' after exposing government corruption
Leaked emails revealed British officials' frustration at political inaction
Philip Hammond said he could not 'find time' for phone call on issue

n explosive row has erupted between diplomats and Ministers over their reluctance to help a British man on death row in Ethiopia.

A series of extraordinary emails, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, reveal officials’ increasing frustration at political inaction over Andargachew Tsege.

Tsege, 59, a father-of-three from London, was snatched at an airport in Yemen last June and illegally rendered to Ethiopia. There are concerns he may have been tortured.

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Family torn apart: Kidnapped Briton Andargachew Tsege with wife Yemi and their children, before his abduction

Yet Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he could not ‘find time’ for a phone call to raise the issue and did not want to send a ‘negative’ letter.

In one email, an exasperated official asks: ‘Don’t we need to do more than give them a stern talking to?’

Tsege, who has lived in the UK since 1979, has been called Ethiopia’s Nelson Mandela. Tsege fell out with his university friend ex-Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, after he exposed government corruption and helped establish a pro-democracy party.