South Sudan rebels kidnap four oil workers, demand firm’s exit

JUBA  – South Sudanese rebels said on Monday they had kidnapped four oil workers including a Pakistani national, in a bid to force their Chinese and Malaysian consortium to leave the country.

The fighters loyal to former vice president Riek Machar said they had seized the four working for DAR Petroleum Operating Company from Upper Nile State on Saturday – the second group of oil workers abducted this month.

There was no immediate comment from DAR, a consortium including China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China’s Sinopec and Malaysia’s Petronas.

South Sudan, which split away from Sudan in 2011 after decades of conflict, has been mired in civil war since President Salva Kiir sacked Machar in 2013.

The fighting has forced 3 million people to flee their homes, split much of the population along ethnic lines and paralysed agriculture, leaving the country facing famine, according to the United Nations.

South Sudan’s government said it was using “diplomatic channels” to negotiate the workers’ release and accused the rebels of demanding a ransom.

Rebel spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel dismissed that allegation.

“There are no conditions for their release, but we want to make it clear to their country of residence and the government that we do not want their company to operate in South Sudan,” he told Reuters.   Continued…