Sudan to recover bodies of Chinese hostages

October 28, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — The bodies of five kidnapped Chinese oil workers and two of their injured colleagues are to be airlifted to Khartoum on Tuesday before flying on to China, a Sudanese government said today.

Chinese and Sudanese ambassadors flew to an area in Kordofan in central Sudan where Khartoum says the hostages were killed, to recover the bodies and were expected to return to the capital in the next few hours.

“The bodies are now moving from the place where the incident took place, to Khartoum and from Khartoum probably to China,” Sudanese foreign ministry official Ali Yousuf told AFP.

He said the two injured former captives would be on board the same plane.

China on Tuesday condemned the killing of five kidnapped Chinese oil workers in Sudan as an “inhumane terrorist” act.

“We express strong indignation and condemnation for the inhumane terrorist deed of the kidnappers in killing these unarmed workers,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.

Sudan’s government said Darfur rebels on Monday shot and killed five kidnapped Chinese oil workers and that two others escaped with gunshot wounds.

Nine Chinese oil workers were snatched on October 19 in south Korodofan, a state which includes the disputed oil region of Abyei, and two remain captive.

Sudan says kidnappers from the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which staged an unprecedented attack on Khartoum in May, shot dead the five oil workers on Monday and ran off with two other hostages.

The circumstances surrounding the deaths are shadowy and the fate of the two remaining hostages is unknown. Sudan denies there was any confrontation between security forces and the kidnappers.

(AFP)