Region | Sudan
Four Indian oil workers abducted in Sudan
Four Indian oil workers have been abducted in the oil-rich south of Sudan by disaffected locals, diplomatic sources said on Thursday.
- Reuters
- Published: 17:40 May 15, 2008
Khartoum: Four Indian oil workers have been abducted in the oil-rich south of Sudan by disaffected locals, diplomatic sources said on Thursday.
Darfur rebels who have forces in the area said they were not holding the workers. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has in the past kidnapped oil workers in Kordofan, bordering the Darfur region where it has fought a rebellion for five years.
"I can confirm that four Indians have been abducted and every effort is being made to secure their release," Deepak Vohra, the Indian ambassador in Khartoum, told Reuters. "I am
hopeful that they will be released in the near future."
Another diplomatic source said the four were working for an oil services company and were kidnapped by locals who complain they do not see development or revenues from oil pumped from their land.
The source said the four were kidnapped between the Neem and Heglig oil fields in South Kordofan. Heglig is one of Sudan's largest oil fields.
In October JEM captured five oil workers, warning all oil companies to stop work and leave the country. The hostages were eventually freed after intervention by the Egyptian government.
"This one is not us," JEM official al-Tahir al-Feki said of the latest abduction. "But we are going to attack the oil fields," he warned.
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