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Two Italians released by kidnappers in Nigeria: Rome
AFP
ROME
Petroleumworld.com 02 27 06Two Italian oil workers who were abducted last week in Nigeria's restive Niger Delta region have been released, the Italian foreign ministry announced here Monday.
Lucio Moro and Luciano Passarin, both employees of the Italian construction group Impreglio who were taken hostage on Friday, "were released a short time ago," a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.
The ministry provided no further details.
The men were abducted after gunmen stormed into the Impreglio offices, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Nigerian oil capital of Port Harcourt.
The kidnappings led to a call from the Italian foreign ministry to all Italian companies operating in the Niger Delta to withdraw all expatriate staff.
Two other Italians working for Italian oil giant Agip abducted on December 7 are still being held by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
Though no group has claimed responsibility for the most recent abductions, MEND had warned that it would retaliate against Agip and local state authorities after a kidnapped Lebanese national escaped.
AFP 26 1815 GMT 02 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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