China asks Albania to return asylum seekers
BEIJING, May 9 (Reuters) - China criticised the United States and Albania on Tuesday for not handing over five Chinese Muslims released from Guantanamo Bay and now in Albania seeking asylum.
A spokesman for the China's Foreign Ministry said Beijing had protested to the two countries after the five men -- from the largely Muslim Uighur minority that dominates China's far western Xinjiang region -- were released from U.S. military detention and sent to Albania on Friday, where they have asked to be treated as refugees.
"These five men simply aren't refugees; they're suspected East Turkestan terrorists," the spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news briefing, referring to groups seeking Uighur independence from China.
"We believe these suspects should be deported to China. The U.S. and Albanian actions have gravely violated international law and relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions," Liu said. He did not specify what international laws he meant.
The United States held the men in Guantanamo for almost four years without charge or trial after they were captured as part of the U.S.-led campaign against extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but Washington said it would not hand them back to China because they might face persecution there.
Uighurs share cultural and religious traditions with Turkic peoples of Central and Western Asia, and Uighur discontent with Beijing's economic grip and controls on religion and culture has sparked protests and occasional violence in Xinjiang.
China has waged a harsh campaign against what it says are violent separatists and Islamic extremists pressing for an independent "East Turkestan", and it said the five would-be refugees are suspected terrorists.
"East Turkestan is a constituent part of international terrorist forces, and it has close links with al Qaeda and the Taliban," Liu said, adding that an "East Turkestan Islamic Movement" is listed on a sanctions list approved by the U.N. Security Council.
Diplomatic sources said the United States, which refused to allow the five men to stay there, asked more than 20 countries to take them before asking Albania. China's ambassador to Albania on Monday pressed for the Uighurs to be handed over to China.
Albania, ruled by a communist government from 1945 until 1990, enjoyed very close political and economic ties with China during the 1960s, when both countries were at odds with the Soviet Union.
A spokesman for the China's Foreign Ministry said Beijing had protested to the two countries after the five men -- from the largely Muslim Uighur minority that dominates China's far western Xinjiang region -- were released from U.S. military detention and sent to Albania on Friday, where they have asked to be treated as refugees.
"These five men simply aren't refugees; they're suspected East Turkestan terrorists," the spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news briefing, referring to groups seeking Uighur independence from China.
"We believe these suspects should be deported to China. The U.S. and Albanian actions have gravely violated international law and relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions," Liu said. He did not specify what international laws he meant.
The United States held the men in Guantanamo for almost four years without charge or trial after they were captured as part of the U.S.-led campaign against extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but Washington said it would not hand them back to China because they might face persecution there.
Uighurs share cultural and religious traditions with Turkic peoples of Central and Western Asia, and Uighur discontent with Beijing's economic grip and controls on religion and culture has sparked protests and occasional violence in Xinjiang.
China has waged a harsh campaign against what it says are violent separatists and Islamic extremists pressing for an independent "East Turkestan", and it said the five would-be refugees are suspected terrorists.
"East Turkestan is a constituent part of international terrorist forces, and it has close links with al Qaeda and the Taliban," Liu said, adding that an "East Turkestan Islamic Movement" is listed on a sanctions list approved by the U.N. Security Council.
Diplomatic sources said the United States, which refused to allow the five men to stay there, asked more than 20 countries to take them before asking Albania. China's ambassador to Albania on Monday pressed for the Uighurs to be handed over to China.
Albania, ruled by a communist government from 1945 until 1990, enjoyed very close political and economic ties with China during the 1960s, when both countries were at odds with the Soviet Union.
posted by Marko at 5/09/2006 07:41:00 AM
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