Kidnappers killed five Chinese oil workers on Monday whom they had been holding hostage in central Sudan

Kidnappers killed five Chinese oil workers on Monday whom they had been holding hostage in central Sudan for more than a week, the Foreign Ministry said. Nine Chinese oil workers had been kidnapped, the ministry said. Two escaped on Monday, and two are still being held. The ministry said a Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, was responsible for the kidnapping and killings. An official of the group based in London denied that it was involved. The workers were seized near a small oil field in the state of South Kordofan, which borders Darfur, where they were working under contract for a Chinese-led oil consortium. A ministry spokesman said the kidnappers had demanded that Chinese oil companies leave the region.