A Darfur rebel group has claimed it has attacked a Sudanese oilfield in the Kordofan region, taking a Canadian and an Iraqi 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 Canadians and the Iraqi both worked 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 had one week to leave Sudan.
No-one from the Sudanese oil ministry was available to confirm or deny the incident.
In April, seven Chinese oil workers were kidnapped by rebels in Ethiopia and later released.
The men were seized during a rebel attack on a Chinese oil installation in eastern Ethiopia, when nine Chinese and 65 Ethiopians were killed. ( BBC )