MEKELE, Ethiopia — Eritrea yesterday dismissed allegations that its forces crossed into neighbouring Ethiopia and kidnapped five Britons and 13 Ethiopians who were touring a remote region near the countries' long-disputed border, saying the claims were fabricated by arch rival Ethiopia.In Ethiopia, government officials and a ministry contradicted each other, with the Foreign Affairs ministry saying yesterday that the government was still investigating who the kidnappers were. On Saturday, two government officials had alleged Eritrea was responsible for the kidnapping.

The tour group went missing Thursday while travelling in Ethiopia's Afar region, a barren expanse of salt mines and volcanoes 500 miles northeast of the capital, Addis Ababa. The Britons are employees of the British Embassy in Addis Ababa or their relatives, and Britain has sent a 10-member crisis team to help secure their release.

Communication and travel into Afar are extremely difficult, and any attempts to reach the group could be arduous. The region is not heavily travelled by foreigners — in part because of its proximity to the countries' disputed border — although the moonlike landscape draws adventure tourists. Travelers are required to have armed guards.

Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu said claims by two senior Ethiopian officials that Eritrean commandoes seized the group were fabricated to make Eritrea look bad. Relations between the countries have been strained since Eritrea gained independence from the Addis Ababa government in 1993 following a 30-year guerrilla war.

"Simply denying this is not enough," Abdu told The Associated Press yesterday. "People have to ask what is the motive behind this accusation."

Later yesterday, Ethiopia seemed to downplay the earlier allegations by some officials, only saying investigations were continuing.

"Currently, pertinent government bodies are investigating to identify the kidnappers," said a foreign affairs ministry statement read on the state-owned Ethiopia Television.

Last week, the British Broadcasting Corp., quoting unidentified government sources, said there was a "national security dimension" to the disappearance of the Britons. British officials have not commented on the report, and a spokeswoman for the embassy in Addis Ababa, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, had no new information yesterday.

Late Saturday, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency said five of the 13 Ethiopians in the tour group were found near the border with Eritrea, but it was not clear whether they had escaped or were released.

Esmal Ali Sero, head of the Afar administrative region, said Saturday that about 25 Eritrean "commandoes" kidnapped the British citizens along with their Ethiopian drivers and translators Thursday night, then set fire to the house where they were staying and their cars. He cited local investigators. A senior Ethiopian official in the ruling party, who asked not to be named, also said Eritreans were behind the kidnapping.

Also yesterday, a group of French tourists who had also been missing since Thursday arrived in Mekele, the Afar region's capital, and said they had not been kidnapped, as was previously believed.

"Not at any time were we unsafe," said one of the tourists, who refused to give his name. He said the group simply did not have a satellite phone and so could not check in with Origins Ethiopia tour group. Samson Teshome, head of Origins Ethiopia, also said the group had not been kidnapped.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy released a statement yesterday saying the group had been able to meet with an embassy representative.

"We are continuing to verify that no French person is currently in that zone," he said in the statement.

Bandits and a small rebel group operate in Afar, where the famous Ethiopian fossil of Lucy, the earliest known hominid, was discovered in 1974. The Ethiopian government requires tourists to travel in Afar with armed guards; the British and French groups were believed to have complied.

Britain sent a crisis team to Ethiopia on Saturday in an effort to obtain the release of the five Britons.