KHARTOUM: Four Chinese workers abducted by Darfur rebels on Jan. 12 have been freed, a spokeswoman for the joint UN-African Union peace keeping force in the troubled western Sudan region said yesterday.

“The four abducted Chinese workers were released and delivered to the headquarters of the UNAMID mission in the South Darfur region of Khour Abchi,” spokeswoman Aicha Elbasri told AFP.

The Chinese embassy in Khartoum confirmed their release, saying it had asked Chinese nationals and companies in Sudan “to strictly comply with security measures and avoid going to unstable and dangerous regions.”

The Chinese nationals along with five Sudanese workers were abducted by armed men as they were busy with road construction in Darfur region.

Recent years have seen a wave of kidnappings for ransom in Darfur, where ethnic rebels a decade ago launched an uprising against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government.

Early last year, rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) abducted a group of 29 Chinese workers in southern Sudan. They were released unharmed after 11 days.

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