Chinese kidnapped in Iraq freed

7.20am

BEIJING - Seven Chinese nationals kidnapped in Iraq have been released, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Chen Xianzhong, a Chinese merchant working in Baghdad, told Xinhua that the Association of Islamic Clerics was taking care of the seven at a "secret place". It gave no further details.

The seven -- Xue Yougui, Lin Jinping, Li Guiwu, Li Guiping, Wei Weilong, Chen Xiaojin, and Lin Kongming -- entered Iraq from Jordan on Sunday morning and were abducted in Falluja, west of Baghdad, Xinhua said earlier.

Xinhua did not identify them further or say what they were doing in Iraq.

Falluja lies on the main highway from Amman, the capital of Jordan, to Baghdad.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq