China releases 11 foreigners accused of watching ‘terror video'; 9 still detained
Pic: AP.
China has agreed to release 11 of the 20 people detained this week for watching what has been described as a propaganda video for a banned group.
The group, comprising nine Britons, 10 South Africans and one Indian, was detained in Ordos, Inner Mongolia in northern China Friday where they were on a trip sponsored by a South Africa-based religious organization Gift of the Givers. No reason was given for their detention at the time.
The organization said that “some members were linked to a terror group, to a banned organization, to watching propaganda videos in their hotel room”.
“It was agreed that 11 will be ‘released’, meaning that they will be held in detention until flights have been finalized for them out of China,” the group said in a statement on Facebook Wednesday.
It added: “We still have the problem of the other 5 South Africans, 3 British and 1 Indian national who are not free to leave and till yet [sic] have not been charged… No charges have been put to the group but the Chinese have been very vague saying that someone in the group has some links to a suspected terror group and that someone has some links to a banned group and that the real reason for the incarceration is that someone was watching propaganda videos in the hotel.”
The British Embassy in Beijing earlier confirmed that some of its citizens were detained in northern China and that it is trying to find out why.
The embassy cited a British Foreign Office statement that said nine Britons and two dual British-South African nationals had been detained in northern China and that it was “seeking further clarification” on the reason.
A press officer at the Ordos police bureau said the case was under investigation and declined to give any details.
Additional reporting from Associated Press
