Missing Chinese worker dead, 29 still held in Sudan

Feb 7, 2012, 10:41 GMT

Beijing - China on Tuesday confirmed the death of a worker missing since an attack by Sudanese rebels and said 29 other kidnapped Chinese citizens remained in captivity.

State media quoted Chinese officials in Sudan as saying they had received the body of the missing worker who died following the attack on January 28 in the South Kordofan area.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted Isam Awad Mutwalli, a China specialist at Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as calling the attack at a road construction site a lone incident that 'will not recur.'

'We pledge to enhance the security measures to protect and secure all the Chinese companies operating in Sudan,' the official said.

China's Foreign Ministry said Monday that it was 'using multiple channels and making every possible effort' to secure the release of the 29 kidnapped workers.

Officials had spoken to some of the hostages by telephone, spokesman Liu Weimin said, adding that rescue work was 'still underway.'

Sudanese daily Al-Ahdath on Monday said the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement was expected to release the Chinese citizens within 48 hours after mediation by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

A total of 18 Chinese workers escaped following the attack, but the worker who died was reportedly shot by rebels during an operation by Sudanese government forces to move the workers to a safer location.

Beijing dismissed earlier reports by Sudanese media that 14 of the 29 abducted Chinese citizens had been released.

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