EL-ARISH, Egypt — An Egyptian intelligence official said today armed militants have taken 25 Chinese factory workers hostage in the northern Sinai Peninsula.

He says a group of armed men belonging to an al-Qaida inspired group attacked a bus taking the Chinese workers home.

He said that the armed men forced the workers off the bus, loaded them into cars and took them hostage.

The group is demanding release of militants jailed for a 2005 bombing in Sharm el-Sheikh at the tip of the Egyptian Sinai.