Syrian authorities intend to hand over fighters from China鈥檚 Uyghur minority to Beijing, two sources said on Monday, as Damascus鈥檚 foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani makes his first visit to the country.
Since toppling long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad nearly a year ago, Syria鈥檚 new Islamist authorities have sought to break with their jihadist past and rebuild the country鈥檚 diplomatic presence after years of international isolation.
Members from China鈥檚 Uyghur Muslim minority went to Syria after war erupted in 2011 to fight Assad, many joining the Turkistan Islamic Party, a Uyghur-dominated jihadist group that was based in Idlib province.
The issue of the Uyghur fighters was expected to be on Shaibani鈥檚 agenda in Beijing, a Syrian government source said.
China refused the fighters鈥� integration into the new Syrian army, the source added.
A diplomatic source in Syria said that 鈥楽yria intends to hand over 400 Uyghur fighters to China in the coming period.鈥�
China鈥檚 top diplomat Wang Yi pledged support for Damascus on Monday in 鈥榓chieving peace at an early date鈥�, as Shaibani visited.
China鈥檚 foreign ministry said in a statement that 鈥榯he Syrian side has pledged not to allow any entity to use Syrian territory to harm China鈥檚 interests.鈥�
鈥楥hina 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,鈥� the statement added.
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.
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 鈥榚xpressed legitimate concerns about counterterrorism issues 鈥� in particular (foreign terrorist fighters) in Syria鈥�, said China鈥檚 UN ambassador Fu Cong at the time.
After taking power, Syria鈥檚 new authorities declared that all armed groups were disbanded.
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.
