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Chinese workers held in Sudan board plane to leave

By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese workers abducted by rebels in Sudan more than a week ago boarded a Red Cross plane to leave rebel territory Tuesday after apparently being released, a state news agency said.

The one-line report by the official Xinhua News Agency did not state how many workers boarded the plane or provide any other details of their apparent release.

A group belonging to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North attacked 47 Chinese workers at a road construction site on Jan. 28. One man went missing, 17 others managed to escape capture and 29 were taken hostage.

State media earlier reported that the body of the missing worker had been found and that the 29 abducted workers were expected to be released in the next several days following mediation by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

An official with the Foreign Ministry said it would look into the report.

ICRC spokesman Jean-Yves Clemenzo in Geneva said it would not comment immediately because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Xinhua said the Red Cross was mediating between officials in the capital Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, a branch of a guerrilla movement that has fought various regimes in Khartoum for decades. Its members hail from a minority ethnic group now in control of much of South Sudan, which became the world's newest country six months ago in a breakaway from Sudan.

Sudan has accused South Sudan of arming pro-South Sudan groups in South Kordofan. The government of South Sudan says the accusations are a smoke screen intended to justify a future invasion of the South.

Chinese companies have invested heavily in Sudanese oil production. South Sudan and Sudan are in a bitter dispute over oil, which is produced primarily in South Sudan but runs through Sudanese pipelines for export.

Associated Press writer Frank Jordans in Geneva contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.