Eight Chinese held in Iraq.

INSURGENTS released a video today of eight alleged Chinese hostages in Iraq and threatened to kill them in 48 hours unless the Beijing government clarified its role in the country.

"We captured these Chinese working with one of the Chinese companies helping to build American facilities in Iraq," said one of the gunmen standing beside the eight men who were holding their passports.

Link

As for a reply from the Chinese government as to their 'role' in Iraq, i wouldn't hold my breath.

Sanc'.

edit:title

[edit on 18-1-2005 by sanctum]

Originally posted by sanctum

INSURGENTS released a video today of eight alleged Chinese hostages in Iraq and threatened to kill them in 48 hours unless the Beijing government clarified its role in the country.

"We captured these Chinese working with one of the Chinese companies helping to build American facilities in Iraq," said one of the gunmen standing beside the eight men who were holding their passports.

Link

As for a reply from the Chinese government as to their 'role' in Iraq, i wouldn't hold my breath.

Sanc'.

Any chance of the Chinese Army rolling in from the east?as spoken by Nostradamus?

Nope. The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over their citizens dying, especially a "mere" eight of them, and they certainely wouldn't waste valuable resources and money. If China's (*gollum voice*) preccccccious economy was threatened, or they were going to lose face...now that's another matter entirely...

In a handwritten note delivered with the tape, an insurgent group calling itself the al-Numan Brigades said it abducted the men as they were on their way out of the country.

"After interrogation, we found that they are working for a Chinese construction company that is working inside American sites in Iraq," the note said.

The note indicated the group might release the hostages because China did not participate in the war.

Link

A Chinese company working within American 'sites'. Vague at best.

Sanc'.

I didn't know Chinese were working for American companies in iraq. I guess the way China is it care less of the lives of this people.

We should think about the careless of those who are holding the chineese as hostages. These people are just their to help rebuild Iraq, what the terrorist are doing is normal operations taking lives on purpose to make a point. Maybe the John Paul II should say something, it worked for the Archbishop!?

Chinese hostages deadline ends

THE 48-hour deadline given by Islamist insurgents for Beijing to "clarify" its position on Iraq expired this afternoon, with no word on the fate of the eight Chinese they are holding.

The Chinese embassy in Baghdad declined to comment on the situation when the apparent deadline expired at around 3pm (11pm AEDT Thursday).

The Xinhua news agency earlier reported that Chinese diplomats were in talks with the Committee of Muslim Scholars and confident the eight would be freed.

But the influential body of conservative Sunni clerics, which mediated the liberation of foreign hostages in the past, gave no information on the reported negotiations.

Link

New video released today with a new demand. The captors are stating that if the Chinese government issues an official ban on Chinese citizens entering Iraq they will be "merciful" to the hostages.

www.cnn.com...

three of the hostages are teenagers.

The 8 Chinese hostages have been released according to Al-Arabiya...

Chinese hostages released in Iraq

"The eight Chinese were freed and handed to the Committee of Muslim Scholars," a leading Sunni religious group in Iraq, a correspondent for the Dubai-based satellite channel reported from Baghdad.

"The liberation of the eight hostages came after China agreed to no longer send its citizens to Iraq," the reporter added.

China's embassy in Baghdad confirmed Saturday that the hostages had been released, the official Xinhua news agency reported from Baghdad.

Link

This is good news.

MOST WONDERFUL NEWS!

*Valhall does a jig*

Another link as well (since we have yet another story link gone bad, sanctum)...lol

8 Chinese Hostages Freed

I was very worried about these guys. *sigh of relief*