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China says opposes nations taking in Chinese Guantanamo prisoners
Beijing (AFP) Dec 23, 2008 China said Tuesday it opposed any country taking in Chinese prisoners from Guantanamo Bay after Germany said it would consider accepting some detainees if the US closed the "war on terror" jail. "The Chinese government always urges these prisoners be repatriated back to China," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters. "We oppose any countries taking these prisoners." Qin's comments came a day after Germany said it backed US president-elect Barack Obama's pledge to shut down the controversial prison at the US naval base in Cuba, and would consider any request to accept some inmates. The prison, which currently holds about 250 inmates, was opened in early 2002 as a way of holding detainees beyond the reach of US courts. "We have repeatedly said the 17 Chinese terrorists detained at Guantanamo are members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by the Security Council of the United Nations," Qin said. China has blamed the ETIM -- which wants to create an independent homeland in the Muslim-populated northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang -- for threatening the Beijing Olympics. Xinjiang is a vast area of mountains and deserts that borders Central Asia, and many of its 8.3 million Uighurs, a Muslim minority speaking a Turkic language, say they have suffered decades of repression under communist rule. Uighur dissidents and some human rights groups have said China has exaggerated the threat from so-called terrorists in Xinjiang to justify a harsh security crackdown there. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Pentagon sets trial date for suspect in bombing of USS Cole
Washington (AFP) Dec 23, 2008The Pentagon has set a January 14 arraignment for a Saudi man held at the Guantanamo Bay prison accused of helping to plan and carry out the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole, US media said Tuesday. |
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