The Times of India reports that China has issued a security warning to its citizens living in Algeria after receiving news that Al-Qaida plans to avenge the deaths of Uighurs killed in Xinjiang:
According to a report by the London-based risk analysis firm Stirling Assynt, an Algerian Al-Qaida affiliate has vowed to avenge the deaths of Muslims killed in Xinjiang by targeting Chinese workers in northwest Africa.
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese work in the Middle East and North Africa, including 50,000 in Algeria, the report said…On Tuesday, the foreign ministry said it would take all necessary measures to protect its overseas interests following the report.
“We will keep a close eye on developments and make joint efforts with relevant countries to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of overseas Chinese institutions and people,” foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.
In another related article, three Uighurs were shot by Chinese police in a failed attempt to take over a prayer meeting:
About 150 people were inside an unnamed mosque on Urumqi’s Jiefang Road on Monday afternoon when one of the three men tried to grab the microphone from the imam, the official China Daily reported.
The man was stopped but stood up several minutes later, unfurling a green banner, shouting “jihad” and calling on other Uighurs in the mosque to follow him, the newspaper quoted the imam as saying… As the melee spilled outside the mosque, the three men chased a security guard who was trying to shepherd people away, the guard was quoted as saying.
He said police stopped the group but were forced to shoot the three Uighurs after their warning shots failed to halt the attack on him.
See also past CDT posts on the 2009 Xinjiang Protests.
