Freed Chinese men found in Iraq

Militants reportedly said the hostages had not been harmed

China's embassy in Iraq says it has located eight freed Chinese hostages and adds that they are safe.

On Saturday, Chinese officials confirmed media reports that the men - all migrant workers - had been freed.

However, the officials had struggled to track down the whereabouts of the released hostages.

They were seized on Tuesday by militants who had threatened to kill them unless Beijing clarified its position on Iraq.

'Trafficked'

The insurgents later said the hostages had been freed after China warned its citizens not to travel to Iraq, according to a video aired by the Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV channel on Saturday.

The tape showed each of the Chinese men shaking hands with a masked insurgent.

"The Islamic Resistance Movement, al-Numan Battalion, has decided to release the eight citizens as a goodwill gesture for the friendship between the two countries of Iraq and China," one of the militants said on the tape.

The hostages were paraded on video by their captors

"They were not harmed during the period they were held and also they weren't exchanged for any amount of money," the man added.

The Chinese foreign ministry said earlier that it had repeatedly warned its citizens to stay out of Iraq.

China's official Xinhua news agency quoted the Chinese embassy in Baghdad as saying the eight freed workers would soon leave for home.

The former hostages were reported to have been handed over to a Sunni Muslim group, Islamic Scholars' Association, which acted as a mediator.

The insurgent group had accused the men of building American facilities in Iraq, something the Chinese government denied.

The Islamic Scholars' Association also helped secure the freedom of seven Chinese citizens kidnapped in Iraq last year.

Both groups of hostages came from southern Fujian province, and Chinese state media have speculated they had paid human traffickers for their passage to Iraq.

The abductions caused shock among many Chinese, who believed Beijing's opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq should have guaranteed their nationals' safety in the country.