Canadian oil worker kidnapped in Sudan: reports

Last Updated: Thursday, October 25, 2007 | 5:19 AM MT

CBC News

A Canadian may be one of two oil workers abducted by Darfur rebels during an attack on an oilfield in Sudan on Tuesday, media reports suggest.

Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs told CBC News that it is aware of the kidnappings, but could not confirm whether a Canadian was among those abducted.

Media outlets in North America, Europe and Sudan are reporting that the two people abducted were Canadian and Iraqi.

The attack took place at the Defra oilfield run by a Chinese company in the Kordofan region of Sudan, which is near the war-torn Darfur region.

The rebels, members of Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement, said the two kidnapped foreign workers are in good health.

The rebels have not released the workers' names or commented on the specific conditions demanded in exchange for their release, but rebel leader Mohamed Bahr Hamdeen has said foreign oil companies must leave the area within a week.

"This military operation is a clear message to oil companies working in Kordofan: the staff, especially foreign workers, have been given a week, starting yesterday, to leave," Hamdeen told the Associated Press on Thursday.

"[Otherwise], the companies and their foreign staff will become a legitimate target for the movement."

Hamdeen accused foreign oil companies of indirectly funding the Sudanese government's war effort in Darfur, a region that has been in conflict since ethnic African tribes rebelled in 2003 against what they considered decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government.

The Sudanese government has been accused of retaliating by unleashing the Janjaweed, an Arab militia, resulting in widespread atrocities.

More than 200,000 people have died since the conflict erupted and more than two million have been forced to flee their homes.

Sudan calls attack 'insignificant'

The rebel group claimed members of the Sudanese army were injured and killed during Tuesday's attack, but the Sudanese military downplayed the event.

Officials denied it was a rebel victory, and said it had little impact on Sudan's oil output of 500,000 barrels per day.

"It was insignificant," a military spokesman told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity, in accordance with military regulations.

"From a military point of view, they have done nothing."

The oil field that was attacked is operated by a Chinese-led consortium, the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company.

The rebel group said the attack is a warning that China must stop supporting the Sudanese government.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said he hoped that there can be a ceasefire in Darfur soon. Peace talks are supposed to start this weekend in Libya, but many rebel groups say they will boycott the event, including the Justice and Equality Movement.

"We hope that relevant parties in Sudan can take concrete measures to ensure the safety of life and property of people in Sudan," Liu told reporters Thursday.

The United Nations and African Union are scheduled to send a coalition force of 26,000 peacekeepers to the area on Jan. 1. The coalition will take over from an overstretched African Union force that is already in the area.