.

Khartoum - Rebel forces in Sudan's border state of South Kordofan relesed 29 Chinese workers to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Tuesday, 10 days after they were kidnapped, Sudan's foreign ministry said.

The workers were handed over on Tuesday morning to the ICRC, Sudan's foreign ministry said. They were flown over from Kauda in South Kordofan to Nairobi in Kenya and handed over to Chinese embassy officials.

“The Sudanese foreign ministry affirms to the government and people of China that Sudan's government seeks to protect Chinese investments and workers involved in it,” a ministry statement said.

The construction workers were captured on Jan. 28 - apparently held as pawns in a dispute between Sudan and rebels allied with the newly independent and oil-rich South Sudan.

It marked the third case of abduction of Chinese in Sudan since 2004 and highlighted the risks to China's expanding economic footprint in Africa in search of minerals and energy.

China's state news agency Xinhua also confirmed the release.

The workers belonged to state-owned Sinohydro Corporation, a hydropower engineering and construction company. The kidnappings dramatise China's difficulties as it ventures into risky areas, generally shunned by Western companies.

Beijing had faced immense pressure to secure the safe return of the abducted workers. State-owned newspapers called for more protection for its overseas workers as the world's second-largest economy expands its investments around the globe.

China had sent a team of officials to Khartoum to help secure the workers' release.

Xinhua reported last week had quoted the Chinesde embassy in Sudan as saying that rebels from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North had attacked a total of 47 Chinese workers.

Eighteen fled the scene of the attack and all but one of those were taken to safety after a rescue attempt on Jan. 29.

One man from that group was shot and killed and his body was handed over to China on Tuesday by Sudanese authorities, Xinhua said. - Reuters