China continues to detain tourist group

rthk.hk - Instant NewsToday, 3:54 PM

A group of 20 travelers from Britain, South Africa and India, who have been accused of watching terrorist propaganda, continue to be detained in northern China. One report said some of them may be deported this week.

The group was detained on Friday at the airport in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, and was being held without charge, Shameel Joosub, a relative of three of the detained people and CEO of South African telecommunications company Vodacom, said.

Imtiaz Sooliman, a South African disaster response specialist, said in a statement posted on the Facebook page of his agency, Gift of the Givers, that those detained were part of a group of 20 people - 10 South Africans, nine Britons and one Indian - who were on a 47-day tour of ancient Chinese sites.

Mr Sooliman said that nine members of the group were accused of watching terror propaganda in their hotel rooms and that they would continue to be detained, but that the other 11 would be deported this week.

Gift of the Givers describes itself on its website as being inspired by Muhammed Saffer Effendi al Jerrahi, a master of Sufism, a mystical form of Islam.


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