China Asks Albania To Extradite Former U.S. Terror Detainees
May 08, 2006
May 8, 2006 -- China asked Albania today to hand over five Chinese detainees who have asked for asylum there after being released from U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Chinese Ambassador in Tirana Tian Changchun said Beijing had asked Albania to return as soon as possible "the five terrorists", who are Uyghers -- that is, members of a Turkic minority in China.
The five are among Chinese detainees held at Guantanamo Bay for several years after being picked up during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.
The U.S. military concluded the Uyghurs presented no terrorist threat to the United States. But they continued to be held because they faced persecution as independence-minded Uyghers if they were sent to China.
Albania agreed on May 5 to take in the detainees and is considering their applications for asylum, which could take two months.
(AP)