China ‘shocked’ by abductions

China urged Sudan yesterday to seek urgently the release of 29 Chinese workers held by rebels in the border state of South Kordofan, declaring that it was “shocked” by their abduction.

The Chinese foreign ministry summoned a senior diplomat at Sudan’s embassy in Beijing to deliver the message.

In a separate incident, Bedouin tribesmen in Egypt’s Sinai region kidnapped 25 mostly Chinese cement factory workers yesterday, demanding that authorities free fellow Bedouin from prison, sources from the tribe said.