China on Thursday said that it objected to any country accepting the 17 Muslim Chinese terror suspects cleared for release from the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, and demanded their return.
"We hope the relevant parties can deal with the issue properly in accordance with international practice," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Fu said.
"As for those Chinese terror suspects that are kept in Guantanamo, as we have stated before, we strongly oppose any country accepting these people," she added.
The 17 Muslim Uighurs were among a 22-member group captured in Afghanistan in 2001, and cleared for release in 2004 after they were no longer considered "enemy combatants."
Albenia accepted five of the Uighurs released from Guantanamo Bay in 2006, but the rest remain at the detention center as the U.S. has not been able to find a country willing to take them.
Though Beijing has demanded their return, Washington fears that they could face persecution or torture if sent back to China, which has launched a campaign against separatists in the Muslim-dominated oil-rich Xinjiang Uygur region that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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