U.S. wrong to free "East Turkistan" terrorist suspects: Chinese official

The U.S. government is wrong to free five "East Turkistan" terrorist suspects who should face justice in Chinese courts, said a senior Chinese official in Beijing on Friday.

The five accepted by Albania were by no means refugees, but "East Turkistan" terrorist suspects, said Ismail Amat, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

"The United States is implementing double standards and we are strongly against it," he said.

The U.S. government announced on Saturday it had freed five Chinese Uygur Muslims from the Guantanamo Bay detention center and allowed them to go to Albania as refugees for resettlement.

The United States and Albania should repatriate them as quickly as possible, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao in Beijing on Tuesday.

They were "East Turkistan" terrorist suspects and "East Turkistan" was a component of an international terrorist campaign closely connected with Al Qaida and the Taliban, Liu said.

"They should be repatriated to China. The acts of the U.S. and Albanian sides are a gross violation of international law and UN resolutions, and we are strongly opposed to this," Liu said.

"We have made strong representations to related sides and urged them to repatriate the terrorist suspects to China as soon as possible," he said.

Source: Xinhua