President Hu highly concerned with seven kidnapped Chinese in Iraq

Chinese President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders are highly concerned with the case of seven Chinese nationals kidnapped in Iraq. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said here Monday that President Hu Jintao had instructed the Foreign Ministry and a team responsible for the re-establishment of the Chinese Embassy in Baghdad to take utmost efforts to ensure the safe rescue of the seven hostages.

The seven Chinese nationals were kidnapped by armed men in Fallujah, west of Baghdad on Sunday after they entered Iraq via Jordan. The seven people, all male, were from China's eastern Fujian Province, Chinese diplomats in Baghdad said.

In response to President Hu's instruction, the Chinese Foreign Ministry is taking every necessary measure to rescue the seven men.

Sun Bigan, head of the team responsible for the re-establishment of the Chinese Embassy in Baghdad, called an emergency meeting and formed a special task force for rescue work.

Sun called the newly-appointed interim Iraqi Interior Minister, and asked the minister to take every necessary measure to determine the identity of the kidnappers, the location of hostages, and to rescue the seven under the precondition of ensuring their safety.

The Chinese diplomats are also contacting officials of the interim Iraqi governing body to help in the rescue of the hostages.

Earlier reports quoted foreign witnesses as saying that the Chinese captives were in good health and not handcuffed, but it remained unclear what the kidnappers will do with them.

Source: Xinhua