Ethiopian, Chinese gov´t condemn attack on Chinese company in Ethiopia

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Source: CCTV.com | 04-26-2007 11:26

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi condemns Tuesday's armed attack on a Chinese oil company in Ethiopia's Somali state.

The Ethiopian government and the Chinese Foreign Ministry have condemned Tuesday's armed attack on a Chinese oil company in Ethiopia's Somali state. Ethiopian officials pledged to hunt down the killers and protect foreign investors.

Calm is returning to this Chinese oil company in Ethiopia, but a sense of security is yet to be restored.

An emergency team formed by China's Foreign Ministry and the Commerce Ministry will help deal with the aftermath of Tuesday's incident.

More than 200 gunmen were involved in the attack. They killed seventy-four workers -- nine of them Chinese and 65 Ethiopian. A number of others were kidnapped, including seven Chinese citizens. The victims worked for the Zhongyuan Petroleum company in the southeast of Ethiopia.

China's Foreign Ministry condemned the killing, and expressed deep sympathies to the Chinese and Ethiopian victims and their families.

The ministry is demanding that Ethiopia ensure the safety of personnel and property of Chinese agencies in the country, and help resolve problems arising from the attack.

Ethiopia's state television reports that defense reinforcements have been sent to the site of the attack. It also quoted sources from its Ministry of Information that the killers are from a rebel group called the Ogaden National Liberation Front.

The rebel group has claimed responsibility for the attack on its website.

The Ethiopian government described the incident as an act of terror, and swore to pursue the gunmen and prevent such attacks from happening again.

This is not the first such incident involving Chinese workers overseas. In one incident in January, five Chinese were kidnapped in Nigeria, but were freed later.

Editor:Du Xiaodan