BEIJING, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Seven Chinese workers, kidnapped last Tuesday in an attack on a Chinese oil company in Ethiopia, have been released, Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday in a press release.
Survivors of the same attack as well as the bodies of
nine victims were flown back to their hometown, central China's Henan Province,
by a chartered plane on the same day, said the press release.
Immediately after the incident, the Chinese
government set up and sent to Ethiopia an emergency group comprising officials
from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Commerce Ministry and the China Petroleum
& Chemical Corporation to organize the rescue work, said the ministry.
The Chinese government expressed gratitude to the
Ethiopian government, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and
other related sides for their efforts to rescue the seven kidnapped Chinese
workers, it added.
Extending greetings to the rescued workers, the
ministry also called on overseas Chinese enterprises to fully estimate the risks
and intensify their security measures.
At around 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday, about 200
gunmen launched a sudden attack on the premises of the Zhongyuan Petroleum
Exploration Bureau under the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, located
in Abole, a small town about 120 km away from Jijiga, capital of Ethiopia's
eastern Somali state.
Nine Chinese workers were killed in the attack and
seven others were kidnapped by the gunmen, who also killed 65 Ethiopian
employees working for the oil company.
Later on Tuesday in a statement, the rebel group
Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) claimed responsibility for the attack,
saying their targets were Ethiopian soldiers guarding the premises.
After days of rescue efforts, the
Ethiopia government and the ICRC informed the Chinese side on Sunday that the
seven kidnapped workers had been released and were under protection of the
Ethiopian government.
ADDIS ABABA, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian rebels
have released the seven Chinese oil workers kidnapped in a deadly raid on an oil
field in the eastern part of the country, an Ethiopian official told Xinhua on
Sunday.
"The seven Chinese workers have
been freed after negotiations with the rebels," said Bereket Simon, an advisor
to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Full story
ZHENGZHOU, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The bodies of nine
Chinese victims of an attack on a Chinese oil company in Ethiopia were flown
back to their hometown, central China's Henan Province, on Monday morning.
The chartered plane of Air China, carrying nine
coffins each covered with white peonies, arrived at about 2:30 a.m. at the
Xinzheng International Airport, nearly 40 km southeast of the provincial capital
of Zhengzhou. Full story
ADDIS ABABA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in
Ethiopia on Tuesday confirmed that a group of gunmen attacked a Chinese oil
company's premises in Ethiopia's Somali state, causing heavy casualties.
Nine Chinese workers were killed in the attack, said
Xu Shuang, acting manager of the Chinese oil company. Full story
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