Bosses of abducted Chinese fly to Sudan to help secure release
By Wang Ying
BEIJING, March 20, 2004 (CHINA daily) — Bosses of two abducted Chinese engineers flew to Sudan on Thursday in a bid to help secure their release from kidnappers.
The engineers, who work for the Tianjin-based North China Construction Company, were abducted by anti-Sudanese Government militants in western Sudan last Saturday, the Chinese Embassy in Khartoum said.
The pair were abducted by rebels at 4 pm last Saturday while drilling water wells some 80 kilometres from Sudan’s western city of Buram.
The kidnappers reportedly announced that they only want to negotiate with top bosses of the two workers, named as Li Aihua, 34, and Jia Huipeng, 22, both from the city of Shijiazhuang in North China’s Hebei Province.
The government of Sudan has been urged to help rescue the two, said a spokesman with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The Sudanese Government has expressed deep regret for the incident and is vowing to take necessary measures to ensure the safety and immediate release of the men.
The Sudanese have promised to update Chinese officials about developments.
Top officials with the North China Construction Company have visited the men’s families and promised to look after them.
The Sudan branch of the Tianjin-based company has been in operation for two years. The workers have dug more than 100 water wells, winning acclaim from the Sudanese people, said Guo Chunqiu, the company’s president.
Guo said the workers are technical professionals who were strictly trained before being sent abroad.
Embassy staff in Sudan immediately called an emergency meeting to discuss necessary measures to rescue the two, contacting the Sudanese Foreign Ministry and other concerned institutions to seek assistance.
The United Nations on Thursday urged the kidnappers to release the pair.
“The United Nations is deeply concerned at the recent detention of two water engineers working in Sudan, by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army,” the Office of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Co-ordinator for the Sudan said in a release.
“We strongly deplore such attacks on civilians, and call on the captors to release them immediately,” Mukesh Kapila, the co-ordinator, was quoted as saying.