The seven Chinese oil workers kidnapped in a deadly raid staged
by rebels on an oilfield in Ethiopia last Tuesday have been
released, the Ethiopian Ministry of Defense told Xinhua News Agency
yesterday.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed
the news, saying that the kidnapped workers were on their way to
Jijiga, capital of the Ethiopia's Somali State where they were
kidnapped.
"I can confirm that they have been released," an ICRC spokesman
told reporters. "I don't know if they have got there yet."
Bereket Simon, an advisor to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi, also confirmed the release.
As it was raining hard around the Jijiga area, the Chinese
workers might arrive at the city a bit later in the day, an
official from the Defense Ministry said.
The Chinese embassy, however, said the release was yet to be
verified.
Gunmen killed 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese in the pre-dawn
assault on the exploration field in Ethiopia's barren eastern
Ogaden region -- one of the worst attacks to date on China's
facilities in Africa.
Adurahmin Mohammed Mahdi, a London-based spokesman for the
Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels who launched the
attack, told Reuters by telephone: "We handed them (the Chinese
workers) over to the ICRC. They are all very healthy. They are
uninjured and very happy."
The Chinese staff worked for Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration
Bureau, part of the much larger Sinopec, China's biggest refiner
and petrochemicals producer.
Mahdi said two Ethiopian men were also freed with the Chinese
yesterday after negotiations between the rebels' armed wing, ICRC
officials and local Ogaden elders. "It all went very smoothly," he
said.
"There was a ceasefire that we respected and the Ethiopians
respected. The handover took place close to where the incident
happened."
He said the freed workers had been reassured the ONLF, which has
been fighting for independence from Ethiopia since 1984, had
nothing against the Chinese people. "We never meant to take them as
hostages."
The ONLF has blamed the deaths of the Chinese workers killed in
Tuesday's attack on explosions caused by munitions during a fierce
battle with Ethiopian troops guarding the facility.
Beijing has condemned Tuesday's attack and said it will not
change its policy of promoting economic cooperation with
Africa.
Bodies brought back
Meanwhile, a chartered plane carrying the bodies of the nine
Chinese oil workers was expected to arrive in Zhengzhou, capital of
central China's Henan Province, early this morning.
A brief mourning ceremony was to be held at the airport. The
bodies will be cremated soon after their arrival.
In another development, the state-owned Ethiopian
Telecommunication Corporation and ZTE, a Chinese telecom company,
on Saturday signed a US$158-million deal on three telecom service
expansion projects, a move seen as a reaffirmation of the
commitment of both countries to economic cooperation.
(China Daily April 30, 2007)
