苏丹反政府武装释放29名中国工人

Sudanese rebels have freed 29 Chinese workers captuRed 10 days ago in an incident that had strained relations with China, a key political and economic ally.

苏丹反政府武装已释放了10天前劫持的29名中国工人，这起事件曾导致苏丹与中国这一关键的政治和经济盟友关系紧张。

The Chinese road builders, employed by a subsidiary of Sinohydro, a Chinese conglomerate, were seized on January 28 from Sudan's South Kordofan state, where clashes between troops and insurgents have displaced tens of thousands of people in the past year.

由中水电集团(Sinohydro)一家子公司雇用的这批筑路工人，是1月28日在苏丹南科尔多凡州(South Kordofan state)遭到劫持的。过去一年里政府军与反政府武装在该地区发生的冲突，已导致数以万计的人流离失所。

The foreign ministry said the workers were handed to the International Committee of the Red Cross yesterday and flown to Kenya to be received by Chinese diplomats in Nairobi.

苏丹外交部表示，这批工人已在昨日被移交给红十字国际委员会(ICRC)，随后搭机飞往肯尼亚，由肯尼亚首都内罗毕的中国外交人员迎接。

The ICRC and Chinese embassy in Nairobi declined to comment.

红十字国际委员会和中国驻肯尼亚大使馆均不愿置评。

Khartoum moved swiftly to announce the release and assuage strained relations with China. "The Sudanese foreign ministry affirms to the government and people of China that Sudan's government seeks to protect Chinese investments and workers involved in it," said a ministry statement, according to Reuters.

苏丹政府迅速采取行动宣布人质获释，并缓和其与中国的紧张关系。据路透社(Reuters)报道，苏丹外交部在一份声明中表示：“苏丹外交部向中国政府和人民保证，苏丹政府将努力保护中国投资以及参与相关项目的工人。”

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), formerly part of the army that fought for South Sudan's independence from Khartoum, had said it captured the workers to keep them safe from fighting after government forces attacked. "We have handed them to the ICRC and they will hand them to the Chinese government," Arnu Ngutulu Lodi of the SPLM-N told the Financial Times from Nairobi.

苏丹人民解放运动北方分支(SPLM-N)曾经是为南苏丹从苏丹独立而战的叛军的一部分。该组织曾表示，它扣留中国工人，是为了在政府军发动攻击、双方交战之际保证他们的安全。“我方已将他们交给红十字国际委员会，由后者把他们移交中国政府，”该组织的洛迪(Arnu Ngutulu Lodi)从内罗毕对英国《金融时报》表示。

He said the SPLM-N handed the group to the ICRC in Kauda, South Kordofan, from where they were flown to Lokichogio in Kenya and on to Nairobi.

他表示，苏丹人民解放运动北方分支在南科尔多凡州的夸达(Kauda)把这批中国工人交给红十字国际委员会，随后他们经肯尼亚洛基察吉奥(Lokichogio)中转，飞往内罗毕。

The armed group had asked China to put pressure on Khartoum to open an aid corridor and urge a ceasefire and an international investigation into human rights abuses. This had raised fears the workers were being held as political pawns in a border war that threatens to draw Sudan and South Sudan back into conflict.

这个反政府武装组织曾促请中国对苏丹政府施压，要求开辟一条人道援助走廊，实现停火，并由国际社会对人权侵犯的情况展开调查。此举曾引起各方担忧，即这批中国工人正在边界战争中被当作了政治棋子，这场战争可能使苏丹和南苏丹之间再度卷入冲突。

Mr Lodi said these had never been "preconditions" for their release, however.

不过，洛迪表示 ，在释放中国工人的问题上，从来就没有任何“前提条件”。

"We just want to remind the world of the 750,000 people from [nearby border state] Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains [in South Kordofan] who are displaced and are in a very difficult situation; and the government is still continuing to bombard the area day and night, with more killing and displacement," he told the FT.

“我们只是想提醒世人，（邻近的）青尼罗州和（南科尔多凡州）努巴山区有75万人失去了家园，处在十分艰难的境地；而政府仍在没日没夜地轰炸该地区，导致更多人丧生和更多人流离失所，”他对英国《金融时报》表示。

Eighteen other Chinese workers fled the attack in South Kordofan and 17 were flown to safety. Sudan says it recovered the body of one other worker.

另有18名中国工人在南科尔多凡州躲过了反政府武装袭击，其中17人已搭机飞到安全地带。苏丹表示，已收到另一名工人的遗体。

译者:和风