China lodges protest with Sudan over workers capture

BEIJING (AFP) - China on Tuesday lodged a formal protest with Sudan over the capture of 29 Chinese workers by rebels, after dispatching a team to the African nation to help secure their release.

The foreign ministry also called for the release of the workers, who were taken away when rebels in Sudan's South Kordofan state attacked their camp on Saturday.

According to a brief dispatch by the official Xinhua news agency, China's Vice Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng summoned a top level Sudanese embassy diplomat and lodged "urgent representations" over the incident.

Earlier Tuesday, foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin called "on all sides to remain calm and exercise restraint, ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and quickly release the Chinese personnel out of humanitarian concerns."

Liu further added that Beijing had dispatched a team to Sudan on Monday led by foreign ministry officials to help resolve the standoff.

The Chinese workers have been described as hostages by the Sudanese military but rebels say they were only side victims of fighting with government troops.

"They are OK. They are doing well," said Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, spokesman for the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).

"We are very concerned about their security and safety."

There is growing international concern over the situation in South Kordofan, where the government is fighting ethnic minority insurgents once allied to the former rebels who now rule South Sudan.

The South gained independence from Khartoum in July last year after decades of civil war.

The Chinese workers were involved in a road-building project in South Kordofan, and while 29 remain captive, 17 others have been moved to safety by the Sudanese army, Xinhua has said.

China is Sudan's major trading partner, the largest buyer of Sudanese oil, and a key military supplier to the regime in Khartoum.