China wants 17 terror suspects if Guantanamo shuts

Although the US military no longer considers the 17 Uighurs 8220;enemy combatants8221;, they have remained at Guantanamo because the United States has been unable to find a country willing to take them.

8220;The 17 terror suspects imprisoned in the US military base of Guantanamo Bay are members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which has been listed as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations,8221; Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

8220;For these terror suspects, the Chinese government has always requested they be sent back to China and firmly opposes any country accepting them,8221; he told a news briefing.

In 2006, the United States allowed five Chinese Muslims released from Guantanamo to go to Albania. The US government has said it cannot return the Uighurs to China because they would face persecution there.

Many Muslim Uighurs, who are from Xinjiang in far western China, seek greater autonomy for the region and some want independence. Beijing has waged a relentless campaign against what it calls their violent separatist activities.

The Uighurs had been living in a camp in Afghanistan during the US-led bombing campaign that began in October 2001. They fled into the mountains and were detained by Pakistani authorities, who handed them over to the United States.