By Andrew Heavens

A herder stands with his cattle over the plains of Ethiopia's remote Somali region near Jijiga, about 390 miles east of the Addis Ababa, in this April 19 file photo.

ADDIS ABABA , Ethiopia, April 25, 2007 (AP) — Ethiopian Muslim rebels who are allied with Islamic militants in neighboring Somalia stormed a Chinese-run oil field at dawn Tuesday, killing 74 people and destroying the facility.

Nine Chinese oil workers and 65 Ethiopians died, and militants kidnapped seven Chinese workers, said Xu Shuang, general manager of the Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau's Ethiopia operation.

The assault by more than 200 gunmen lasted nearly an hour and followed a warning last year from the Ogaden National Liberation Front against any investment in Ethiopia's Ogaden area that could benefit the U.S.-allied government.

"This was a cold-blooded killing," said Bereket Simon, special adviser to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Bereket said the Ethiopian army is pursuing the attackers.

"We will track them down dead or alive. We will make sure these people will be hunted and be brought to justice," Bereket said.

Formed out of Ethiopia's ethnic Somali minority, the Ogaden National Liberation Front has fought for secession of the region of 4 million since the early 1990s.

It had mounted only occasional hit-and-run attacks on government troops in recent years. Tuesday's attack in the small town of Abole, close to the border with Somalia, was on a larger scale.

Members of the front have fought on behalf of Somalia's Islamic insurgents. The Ethiopian army supports the United Nations-backed interim Somali government in the fight against insurgents.

The Ethiopian government, which is dominated by Christians and has the strongest army in the region, has allied with the United States in a campaign against Islamic extremist groups in the Horn of Africa.

Ethiopia is not an oil-producing country, but companies such as China's Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau have signed exploration deals.

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Liu Jianchao, condemned the attack, China's official Xinhua News Agency said.

Xinhua reported that the attackers fought 100 Ethiopian soldiers protecting the facility in a 50-minute gunbattle. The company had 157 Chinese and Ethiopian workers at the facility, according to Xinhua.

The Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, a division of state-owned China Petroleum and Chemical, began work in Ogaden last year.

Source: The Associated Press

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