TWENTY-FIVE Chinese kidnapped in Egypt were freed yesterday, a day after they had been taken hostage by Bedouin tribesmen, said Ma Jianchun, commercial affairs counselor of the Chinese Embassy to Cairo.

    It was the second kidnapping in days that has sparked worry about Chinese workers in dangerous places.

    China had earlier said it was “shocked” by the other abduction, of 29 Chinese workers by rebels in the Sudanese border state of South Kordofan.

    The 25 workers freed in Egypt were in good condition, Ma said.

    Bedouin tribesmen kidnapped 24 Chinese cement factory workers and a translator in Egypt’s Sinai region Tuesday and held them for 15 hours, according to Xinhua.

    China’s Ambassador to Egypt Song Aiguo had contacted Egyptian interior and defense officials Tuesday, urging them to secure the release of the workers, Xinhua said.

    The kidnappers were demanding that authorities free fellow tribesmen from prison, according to tribal sources.

    Residents of Sinai say they are neglected by the central government in Cairo, and have attacked police stations and blocked access to towns, villages and industrial sites to show their discontent.

    The isolated desert region has descended further into lawlessness since an uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak a year ago and threw the security apparatus into disarray.

    In Sudan, a team of officials China sent to seek the release of the 29 workers arrived in the capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday.

    A spokesman for the rebels holding the workers since Saturday said they were in good condition.

    The spokesman for the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, said rebel officials had met Chinese diplomats in neighboring Ethiopia to assure them the workers were in good health. But he gave no indication of when they would be freed.

    (SD-Agencies)