7 Chinese were stolen in Iraq

Seven Chinese citizens were abducted in Iraq on Sunday by unknown armed people, the Chinese agency Xinhua said on Monday with reference to diplomatic sources in Baghdad.

According to the Chinese diplomat, they drove into Iraq through Jordan on Sunday morning and were abducted by unknown in the city of El Falluja. All the Chinese are men who came from the Fujian province, the oldest of which is 49 years old, the youngest - 18. According to other sources, 11 citizens of the PRC aged 18-49 were stolen, Interfax reports.

The first information about the abduction of the Chinese was informed by AL-ARABIA, foreigners who were released by the rebels in El Falludge on Sunday. They said that seven people of Asian appearance with Chinese passports are kept "in a secret place" by the abductors.

The circumstances of the capture and the requirements of the militants are not yet known. Beijing was one of the most active opponents of the war against the Saddam Hussein regime without the corresponding UN resolution. Moreover, there are no Chinese troops in Iraq. The hostage of the Chinese, most experts believes, was most likely the result of a mistake.

The China Foreign Ministry demanded that the Iraqi authorities take measures to liberate hostages

The China Foreign Ministry demanded that the Iraqi authorities take speedy measures to liberate seven Chinese hostages. As the official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said today, the situation is "carefully lay down and studied."

Employees of the Chinese diplomatic mission in Iraq, led by the Sun Bigan Ambassador "in close contact with the Iraqi departments make efforts to save the fellow citizens" captured in Iraq. According to the international radio of China with reference to Arab television, "nothing threatens the health and life of Chinese hostages."

The fate of Japanese hostages remains uncertain

The fate of Japanese hostages is still unknown, although the 24-hour period determined for their liberation by the abductors expired at 02:40 Tokyo time (21:40 in Moscow).

Japanese hostages are also held in the El Falluji area and, according to the intermediary, are alive and healthy. On Monday, the Japanese government said that there is a certain person who makes contacts with the abductors.

On Sunday morning, citing a high -ranking Iraqi official, it was reported that Japanese hostages would be released by noon. This was announced in television, the Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan Shinzo Abe.

This announcement followed how the satellite television channel Al-Jazeera translated the statement of the armed group of rebels, who previously took three Japanese citizens hostage. It said that the organization "Sarai Al-Mujheddin" is ready to free hostages within 24 hours at the call of the Committee of Islamic ministers, RIA Novosti reports.

The special representative of the Japanese Prime Minister, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Itiro Aisava, who heads the Extraordinary Headquarters of the hostage, told a member of the parliament from the Democratic Party of Yukis Fujit that the hostages could be transferred to one of the Islamic leaders who would determine the conditions for their transfer to the Japanese side.

However, members of the Committee of Islamic Services, the organization of the Sunnis in Iraq, who called for the release of hostages, said that the committee did not receive any information about their release.

At a press conference in Amman on Sunday, Aisava said that he did not have information about the exact finding of hostages and whether they have already been released. Nevertheless, he stated that after the release they would most likely arrive in Jordan.

The head of the Foreign Ministry of Japan, Ioriko Kawaguti, answering the question of the reliability of reports of the possible release of hostages, said that the government "received information from various sources" that they would be released.