Chinese oil workers killed in Sudan (Updated II)

UPDATES: China has condemned the killing of five kidnapped Chinese oil workers in Sudan as an "inhumane terrorist" act. It indicated, however, that its involvement in Sudan would not change...Jiang Yu, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, said on Tuesday: "We express strong indignation and condemnation for the inhumane terrorist deed of the kidnappers in killing these unarmed workers." But the Darfur group accused by Sudan of abducting and killing Chinese oil workers has denied any responsibility.  Sudan's government said abductors who identified themselves as the Justice and Equality Movement kidnapped nine workers from the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).  "Does JEM have or did JEM do it? The answer is no," Tahir el-Faki, the London-based chairman of the JEM's  legislative assembly, said.  "We don't kidnap. We don't take hostages. JEM has nothing to do with it."  "We have forces in the region, we have the support of the people  there. Some of the Messeria people are affiliated to us. Some of  them may take actions but not in the name of JEM," Faki said. Gibril Ibrahim Mohamed, an adviser to JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim, also denied any responsibility.

BEIJING (AP) - The execution-style killing of five Chinese oil workers in Sudan is a reminder of the costs of China's search for raw materials and its increasing need to protect its citizens as it extends its reach on the world stage, analysts said Tuesday. The kidnappers of nine Chinese oil workers killed five of them Monday, according to Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali Sadiq. He said two of the workers managed to escape, while two remained in captivity. «The incident rings the safety alarm bell for Chinese investing overseas,» said Shu Yunguo, director of the Africa Research Center at Shanghai Normal University. While Shu said the killings would not deter China from its involvement in Sudan, or affect bilateral relations, it does show the need to protect Chinese workers in dangerous parts of the world. That has become an increasing challenge for China as it extends its search for raw materials across dangerous parts of the world, said David Zweig, director of the Center on China's Transnational Relations at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

By Matthew Green in Dakar. Published: October 27 2008 22:44 | Last updated: October 27 2008 22:44 Five Chinese oil workers taken hostage in Sudan have been killed by their captors in one of the worst losses China has suffered since it began pouring billions of dollars into its quest for African resources. The five belonged to a group of nine Chinese oilmen and two Sudanese seized on October 19 near a region bordering Darfur, where rebels fighting the government in Khartoum have previously attacked Chinese oil installations. Five were murdered. Two were able to escape with minor injuries,” Ali al-Sadig, a spokesman for Sudan’s foreign ministry, told Reuters. He said two other Chinese were still with their abductors. It was unclear who was behind the kidnapping, although Sudan’s government has blamed a rebel faction from Darfur. Diplomats in Khartoum have speculated that local militiamen in Kordofan, the region where the incident took place, may be responsible. In May, four Indian oil workers and their drivers were seized by gunmen in the area and were either released or escaped. The murders – if confirmed – are an embarrassment for Sudan’s government, which said last week that security forces had launched a rescue attempt. The episode also underlines the dilemma China’s state-owned mining and oil companies face as they increase their pursuit of minerals in some of the most volatile parts of Africa to feed new factories and fleets of cars at home. On the one hand, China’s adventurous strategy has secured concessions in parts of the continent where conflict has deterred more squeamish Western competitors. But, as the case of Sudan shows, China can end up paying a price in both prestige and lives. China, the biggest foreign investor in Sudan, led the development of Sudan’s oil industry during the 1990s, when civil war raging near oilfields in the south of the country barred most Western companies. Human rights groups accused Chinese oil companies of complicity in the “scorched earth” policy used by the government to clear villagers from near well-heads. More recently, China has faced criticism from campaigners who say its support of the government of Omar al-Bashir, the president, is prolonging the five-year-old conflict in Darfur. In response, Beijing says it has sought to use its diplomatic weight to bolster efforts to end the crisis. Darfur rebels attacked Chinese-run oilfields twice last year. With most of sub-Saharan Africa’s proven oil reserves under the control of national oil companies and Western majors, analysts say China will be increasingly forced to venture into some of the remotest, and most dangerous, areas in its search for new finds. Last year, nine Chinese oil workers and dozens of Ethiopians were killed when rebels raided an oil installation in Ethiopia, near the border with Somalia. The Chinese hostages snatched in Sudan were taken near a small field where they were doing contract work for the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, a consortium led by the China National Petroleum Company, that also includes India’s ONGC, Malaysia’s Petronas and Sudan’s state-owned Sudapet. China imports some 60 per cent of Sudan’s oil exports of about 500,000 b/d