Killings of Chinese workers in Sudan condemned

China has condemned the killing of four Chinese oil workers in Sudan, urging the country to take all possible measures to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals.

Four of the nine kidnapping victims have been rescued, while one remains missing. The workers were abducted near the western Sudanese region of Darfur one and a half weeks ago.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, "Top Chinese leaders have taken the kidnapping issue seriously and ordered all-out efforts to rescue those workers. We feel strong indignation and condemn the terrorist act by the kidnappers on unarmed Chinese company staff."

The circumstances surrounding the deaths were shadowy and Sudan denied that there had been any clashes between security forces and the kidnappers, who reportedly identified themselves as the Justice and Equality Movement.