Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ali al-Sadiq announces 5 Chinese hostages as dead.
Khartoum, 2008 Oct 28, Press TV
Darfur rebels have killed five Chinese oil workers who were kidnapped nine days ago in central Sudan, the Sudanese foreign ministry says.
"Five were murdered and two were able to escape with minor injuries," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ali al-Sadiq said on Monday.
The kidnappers, who he said were members of the Darfur rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), are still holding two other workers hostage.
"This was done with the direct instructions from the Justice and Equality Movement," Reuters quoted Sadiq as saying.
"We have informed the Chinese embassy in Khartoum," he added.
The oil workers were seized on October 19 in South Kordofan, a state which includes the disputed oil district of Abyei, in the third such incident in the region in the past year.
Abyei and surrounding areas are prey to sporadic violence between tribes aligned either with the Khartoum government or with the autonomous administration in the south of the country.
In the past, Darfur rebels have kidnapped foreign oil workers from Sudanese oilfields, often targeting Chinese companies because of their strong ties with Khartoum.
Sudan produces about 500,000 bpd of crude and China is the biggest foreign investor in the country.
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