A Darfur rebel grounp has claimed it has attacked a sudanese oil field in the Kordofan region, taking a Canadian and an Iraq oil worker hostage. The group, the justice and Equality Movement (JEM), said it attacked the facility, run by a chinese-led consortium in the Defra oilfield. JEM said its action was a message to China to stop helping the Sudanese government with their war in Darfur.
China is a major investor in the energy industry in Africa. But it has faced some criticism for maintaining close links with the Sudanese Government in Khartoum as international concern over the situation in Darfur has continued to rise.
The Cabadian and the Iraqi both work on the oilfield run by the Chinese-led consortium, the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company in Sudan’s Defra oilfield . JEM said the Chinese company has one week to leave Sudan.