Asmara - Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki has dismissed Ethiopian allegations that Eritrea abducted five European tourists and their guides last week in the Ethiopian desert as "totally baseless".
In his first public comment on the high-profile abduction Issaias said: "Evil acts of this nature are not our political culture."
His remarks were posted on the Eritrean information ministry's website late on Thursday.
The missing five - all linked to London's embassy in Addis Ababa - and their Ethiopian drivers and translators, were abducted last Thursday in the arid northeast Afar region while on a tourist trip.
While Britain has said the abduction was likely linked to local rebel groups in Afar, Ethiopian News Agency ENA on Wednesday quoted local elders as saying Eritrean soldiers had taken the five to neighbouring Eritrea.
Eritrea has already rejected similar claims.
"The statements are totally baseless and clearly indicate the bankruptcy of the (Ethiopian) regime," Issaias added, speaking at Asmara airport on his return from meetings in Qatar.
Relations between the two neighbours have been extremely tense since Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war and 1998-2000 border conflict.
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said on Thursday her government remained "deeply concerned" about the fate of the five Europeans, and voiced hope they would soon be released.
Beckett said London remains in "the closest possible touch" with Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Despite a peace deal between the two Horn of Africa neighbours in 2000, they have yet to define the status of their 1000km frontier.