Nine Chinese oil workers kidnapped in Sudan

Khartoum: Kidnappers have snatched nine Chinese oil workers in central Sudan, the third such incident over the past year in the oil-producing region, the Sudanese government and diplomats said on Sunday.

The government blamed a Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), for the kidnapping. Diplomats, however, said the captors were probably local tribesmen.

Chinese Embassy spokesman Raymond Yu said the kidnappers abducted the workers on Saturday in South Kordofan, source of a large part of Sudan's oil wealth. China is the biggest foreign investor in the African country.

Ali Youssef, head of protocol at the Sudanese foreign ministry, told reporterw "initial information" indicates that the kidnappers were members of a the "Kordofan sector" of JEM.

"Initial information also indicates that the hostages and the captors are still in the South Kordofan area," he said. "Security forces are trying to chase them."