Ethiopia ? Ethiopia earlier this year briefly detained what it said were four U.S. soldiers trying to contact a rebel group that has been fighting for greater autonomy for eastern Ethiopia, government officials said Friday.

Bereket Simon, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, declined to say when the soldiers were detained or give any further details.

Asked about the U.S. soldiers, he told The Associated Press: “Four soldiers, or some soldiers, were detained. They were trying to contact the ONLF (the Ogaden National Liberation Front). That was not permitted.”

An official at the U.S. Embassy and a State Department spokesman in Washington had no immediate comment.