Syria intends to hand over jihadist fighters from China’s Uyghur minority to Beijing, two sources told AFP on Monday, but the foreign ministry in Damascus denied the report.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani was on his first visit to China on Monday.
Since toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad nearly a year ago, Syria’s new Islamist authorities have sought to break with their jihadist past and rebuild the country’s diplomatic presence after years of international isolation.
Jihadists from China’s Uyghur Muslim minority went to Syria after war erupted in 2011, mostly as part of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), which was active in Idlib province and was allied with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamists who led the offensive that ousted Assad.
The issue of the Uyghur fighters was expected to be on Shaibani’s agenda in Beijing, a Syrian government source told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that “based on China’s request, Damascus intends to hand over the fighters in batches”.
China refused the fighters’ integration into the new Syrian army, the source added.
A diplomatic source in Syria, also requesting anonymity, told AFP that “Syria intends to hand over 400 Uyghur fighters to China in the coming period”.
After AFP published its report, state news agency SANA quoted a foreign ministry source denying it.
“AFP’s report regarding the Syrian government’s intention to hand over fighters to China is without foundation,” the source said without elaborating, according to SANA.
– ‘Appreciation’ –
China’s foreign ministry said in a statement that “the Syrian side has pledged not to allow any entity to use Syrian territory to harm China’s interests”.
“China expressed its appreciation and hopes that Syria will take effective measures to implement this commitment, thereby removing security obstacles to the stable development of China-Syria relations,” the statement added.
Shaibani said in a statement that “Syria will not be a source of threat to China and will not allow any entities to use its territory to carry out activities that would harm China’s security, sovereignty and interests”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said that between 3,200 and 4,000 Uyghur fighters were still in Syria and were integrated into the new Syrian army as a division.
According to the diplomatic and government sources, the fighters slated for handover to China are not among those integrated into the military.
Earlier this month, China abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote on a resolution to lift sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
China “expressed legitimate concerns about counterterrorism issues — in particular (foreign terrorist fighters) in Syria”, said China’s UN ambassador Fu Cong at the time.
After taking power, Syria’s new authorities announced the dissolution of all armed groups, most of which were absorbed into the defence ministry.
In December, Sharaa tapped former rebels for high-ranking army positions, including a Uyghur who was a member of the TIP, the Observatory had said.
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© Agence France-Presse
