China said Wednesday that 25 Chinese workers kidnapped by Egyptian Bedouins demanding the release of their Islamist relatives had been released. The incident comes days after 29 Chinese nationals in Sudan were captured by rebels who attacked their camp in the volatile South Kordofan state, where they were involved in a road-building project.
They have still not been released. "I can confirm that all 25 people have been released. Right now they are being taken care of by the Egyptian government and are staying in army accommodation," the assistant to the Chinese ambassador to Egypt told AFP.
"They are all well, with no injuries. There was no need to send them to hospital," the Cairo-based assistant, who would not give his name, said over the phone. He refused to give details of how the workers were released. The Chinese nationals - technicians and engineers who work for a military-owned cement factory in central Sinai - were abducted on Tuesday on their way to work, an Egyptian security official said.
The protesters who seized them were demanding the release of five Bedouins held in connection with an attack on the tourist resort of Taba in 2004, part of a series of bombings claimed by an Islamist group.
They said the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took power last year when a popular uprising ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, had repeatedly promised to release the Bedouins. The official Xinhua news agency said the workers had been freed by their abductors, but gave no further details of any negotiations. The 29 workers in Sudan were captured on Saturday.
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