Video: 8 Chinese hostages in Iraq
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A video showing eight Chinese construction workers taken hostage in Iraq surfaced Tuesday.
It shows the men holding opened passports as an Arabic speaker demanded that the Chinese government declare it would not allow its citizens to work for Americans in Iraq.
"We have taken these individuals hostage as they were trying to leave Iraq," the voice said in Arabic.
"After interrogating them, we learned that they are Chinese working for a Chinese contracting company in Iraq. This company is carrying out the task of rebuilding one of the American bases."
The video showed the men in front of a wall, with four standing and four kneeling, and hooded guards stood on each side.
The voice, claiming to be a representative of "The Islamic Resistance Movement," called on the Chinese government to issue a statement saying they would not allow their citizens to help "their enemy, the Americans."
The camera zoomed in for a close look at each passport which indicated three of the hostages were teenagers, 17, 18 and 19-years-old, respectively.
The state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted sources in China's embassy confirming the men were construction workers from China's southern province of Fujian who were in Iraq to help rebuild an Iraqi plant.
The embassy source said the men were on their way to Jordan when kidnapped.
An embassy representative told CNN officials were still trying to verify the identities of the workers.
-- CNN's Kianne Sadeq and Kevin Flower in Baghdad contributed to this report
