Beijing/Khartoum - Five Chinese oil workers kidnapped in Sudan have been slain by their abductors, the Chinese embassy in Khartoum said.

Sudanese authorities told the embassy Monday that five of nine Chinese workers abducted on October 19 were killed, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.

Two more of the abducted workers were missing, and two escaped, the Sudanese government said.

The Sudan Tribune, quoting Foreign Ministry officials, said the bodies and the two escaped workers, who were injured, were found in a small village in the Kordofan area.

The embassy "strongly condemned" slayings and asked Khartoum to continue search operations for the two missing workers.

Khartoum accused the Darfur rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) of Monday's killings. JEM, however, has denied any involvement.

The nine workers were seized at an oil field in Southern Kordofan state close to Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region.

The oil field is owned by the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co, which is a consortium of the China National Petroleum Corp plus companies from India, Malaysia and Sudan.

According to the Sudan Tribune, members of a local tribe, the Messeria, were suspected of involvement in the kidnappings in an attempt to get a greater share of the region's oil revenues.

The Messeria were blamed for the kidnapping of four Indian oil workers in May while the JEM last year attacked two Chinese-run oil fields in the region.

The rebels said China is indirectly supporting Khartoum's military operations in Darfur through profits from the oil industry.

China has faced criticism for ignoring alleged human rights abuses by Sudan in Darfur as Beijing attempts to meet its growing energy needs.

The Asian nation buys about two-thirds of Sudan's oil. The oil industry makes up a huge chunk of Sudan's export revenues.

The International Crisis Group recently warned that South Kordofan has the potential to turn into another Darfur.

The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when black tribesmen took up arms against what they called decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in Khartoum.

The United Nations said up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in five years of the conflict. dpa ml lw ls