29 kidnapped Chinese workers released in Sudan

Beijing: Nearly two weeks after they were abducted in Sudan, 29 Chinese workers were on Tuesday released by by the local rebels and flown to Kenya.

The 29 workers boarded a plane for Nairobi chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), an ICRC source told the state-run Xinhua news agency. 

They will be handed over to the Chinese embassy at Nairobi after 11 days in captivity.

"The Sudanese authorities allowed a Red Cross plane to take them from Kauda to Nairobi ... this morning where they were

given to the Chinese embassy there," according to a statement from the Sudanese Foreign Ministry.

Their release followed intensive rescue efforts carried out by the Chinese government in collaboration with the Sudanese authorities and other parties, the Xinhua report said.

It was not known how ICRC managed to secure the 29 workers' release.

On January 28, a group of gunmen belonging to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM - northern sector) attacked the camp of a Chinese company operating at a road construction site in South Kordofan State.

A total of 47 Chinese workers were in the camp then, among whom 29 were abducted by the assailants while the other 18 managed to escape.

Among those who managed to escape, 17 were later found by the Sudanese army and transferred to a safe place, and one was confirmed killed after having been unaccounted for days.

Sudanese authorities today handed over the body of the dead Chinese worker to the Chinese side.

Besides this incident, 25 Chinese workers were held by some local Egyptians on January 31 in northern Sinai region.

Thanks to the joint efforts by the Chinese and Egyptian governments, the Chinese workers were released some 15 hours later.