Posted on 12/12/2001 2:27:56 AM PST by sarcasm
Filed at 5:34 a.m. ET
BEIJING (AP) -- China said it would ask for the return of any Chinese Muslims caught fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said Tuesday about 100 fighters from China's northwestern Muslim region of Xinjiang were believed to have been in Afghanistan.
Anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan say they have captured a handful of fighters from China's Muslim Uighur minority.
China is trying to crush Uighur separatists in Xinjiang, and claims some have received arms and training from the Taliban.
Uighurs are blamed for a series of bombings and assassinations, though activists abroad accuse Beijing of exaggerating the threat and using the world anti-terrorism campaign as an excuse to crush even non-violent opposition to Chinese rule.
``They have close contacts with terrorism in the world,'' Zhang said at a regular press briefing.
``If these terrorists were proved to be Chinese nationals, they should be sent back to China and be dealt with in accordance with our law.''
Zhang said China didn't plan to send troops for a possible peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, but was sending a team this week to look into reopening its embassy in Kabul, the Afghan capital.
Well, I doubt these folks consider themselves to be "nationals" of any nation other than the fantasyland that occupies their meager cranial cravities.
...and as these types actually crave martyrdom...
The current Afghan authorities probably have a bit more claim to their hides.
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