3在尼日利亚被绑的中国人质被释放

Enoch

[美联社 英文新闻 5月10日]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALe ... Ynewep1QbgD90INNJO0

3 kidnapped Chinese freed in Nigeria

2 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — Three Chinese construction workers who were abducted in southern Nigeria's troubled oil region have been released, the government said Saturday.

The Chinese were freed Friday after three days in captivity, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement carried by the official Xinhua News Agency. It gave no details of how they were released.

The abducted workers were employed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corp. They were snatched Tuesday near Calabar, capital of the Nigerian state of Cross River.

China's drive to develop sources of oil and raw materials for its booming economy has taken its companies into unstable areas of Africa where Chinese workers have suffered a string of attacks.

Foreign workers have become targets of armed militants seeking a greater share of Nigeria's oil wealth.

In March 2007, two Chinese oil industry workers were abducted in the southern Nigerian state of Anambra. They were later freed unharmed.

The following month in Ethiopia, nine Chinese workers and 65 Ethiopians were killed in an attack on a Chinese-owned oil exploration field in a disputed area. Seven other Chinese workers were held hostage for a week before being freed.