Group that detains Chinese citizens in Iraq says policy clarifications are needed

In the recent developments of the file of the 8 Chinese detainees in Iraq, the interim Iraqi government announced by its ambassador in China that it is ready to move special forces to liberate them from their kidnappers.

For his part, the Chinese foreign minister Lee Chao Ching said that his government is working day and night in order to ensure the release of the hostages, stressing that it follows up the situation with its embassy in Baghdad hour by hour.

One official at the Chinese embassy in Baghdad told Chin Jing Bao paper that he is expecting " an important telephone call" but gave no further details.

The kidnappers who said they belong to al-Numan groups which affiliate to the Islamic resistance movement in Iraq gave Peking a grace period until Thursday at noon to explain its position concerning the war in Iraq. Though this grace period expired, no information was leaked on the fate of the Chinese hostages.