Tunisia said on Thursday it plans to reopen a consulate in Syria and offered to invite the Syrian ambassador back to Tunisia in part to help track an estimated 3,000 Tunisian militants fighting in Iraq and Syria.
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Obama cautious on Syria plan as opposition yet to commit | Reuters - 0 views
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Tunisia says plans to renew ties with Syria to help track fighters | Reuters - 0 views
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two Tunisians who trained with militants in neighboring Libya, stormed the Tunis Bardo museum and shot 21 foreign tourists, one of Tunisia's worst such attack
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We will not have an ambassador there, but Tunisia will open a consulate or put in place a charge d'affaires, and a Syria ambassador is welcome to Tunisia, if Syria wishes so
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The minister said a consular presence in Syria would help Tunisia glean information on Tunisians fighting alongside Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria and who officials fear will return to carry out attacks at home.
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Tunisia completed a mostly peaceful transition to democracy but has struggled to clamp down on Islamist militants who have been carrying out regular attacks.
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After withdrawing their envoys after the start of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011, some European Union countries have started to privately support more communication with Damascus.
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Several countries including China, Indonesia and top allies Russia and Iran have envoys or charge d'affaires in Damascus
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U.N. concerned by Islamic State's ability to unite Afghan insurgents - 0 views
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The United Nations is concerned by the presence of Islamic State in Afghanistan but says the militant group's power to unite insurgents is more significant than its capabilities in the war-torn country
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attempts are under way to broker an end to 13 years of conflict between the Taliban, who were ousted in a U.S.-led war in 2001, and Afghan and foreign
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growing numbers of disgruntled Taliban fighters have joined the militant group that has seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq
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significance is not so much a function of its intrinsic capacities in the area but of its potential to offer an alternative flagpole to which otherwise isolated insurgent splinter groups can rall
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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's latest report to the Security Council on Afghanistan said a handful of Taliban commanders had declared allegiance to Islamic State and that an increasing number were seeking funding or cooperation with Islamic State.
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The radical Islamist group has declared a caliphate in the territory it controls in Syria and Iraq. A U.S.-led alliance has been targeting Islamic State with air strikes in Iraq and Syria for some six month
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Militants loyal to Islamic State have also been exploiting chaos in Libya, while Boko Haram, which is seeking to carve an Islamist emirate out of northeastern Nigeria, has pledged its allegiance to Islamic State
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"an alignment of circumstances that could be conducive to fostering peace talks" between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Officials said last month the Afghan Taliban has signaled it is willing to open peace talks.
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Saudis block OPEC output cut, sending oil price plunging | Reuters - 0 views
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This outcome set the stage for a battle for market share between OPEC and non-OPEC countries, as a boom in U.S. shale oil production and weaker economic growth in China and Europe have already sent crude prices down by about a third since June.
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Saudi Arabia blocked calls on Thursday from poorer members of the OPEC oil exporter group for production cuts to arrest a slide in global prices, sending benchmark crude plunging to a fresh four-year low.
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"It is a new world for OPEC because they simply cannot manage the market anymore. It is now the market’s turn to dictate prices and they will certainly go lower," said Dr. Gary Ross
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The wealthy Gulf states have made clear they are ready to ride out the weak prices that have hurt the likes of Venezuela and Iran
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hoped that lower prices would help drive some of the higher-cost U.S. shale oil production out of the market.
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A price war might make some future U.S. shale oil projects uncompetitive due to high production costs, easing competitive pressures on OPEC in the longer term.
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"We interpret this as Saudi Arabia selling the idea that oil prices in the short term need to go lower, with a floor set at $60 per barrel, in order to have more stability in years ahead at $80 plus," said Olivier Jakob from Petromatrix consultancy.
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Syria's Assad says West wants to weaken Russia | Reuters - 0 views
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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused the West of trying to weaken Russia by turning Ukraine into a puppet state, a tactic he said had also been used against his own country.
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keep coming back to the fact that there is a connection between the Syrian crisis and what is happening in Ukraine
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"Firstly because both countries are important for Russia, and secondly because the goal in both cases is to weaken Russia
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The United States and the European Union have imposed economic sanctions on Russia over its role in the crisis in Ukraine.
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Russia, a long-standing ally of Assad, denies sending troops and weapons to support separatists fighting government forces in east Ukraine
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Assad will not attend, the president said those taking part should not lose sight of the main goal, clearly meaning restoring peace
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Many Syrian opposition figures shunned the January talks, saying they would appear only at meetings that led to Assad's removal from power.
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The adventures of a Libyan weapons dealer in Syria | Reuters - 0 views
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Syria gets Russian arms under deals signed since conflict began: Assad | Reuters - 0 views
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Russia is supplying weapons to Damascus under contracts signed since the conflict in Syria began in 2011
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appeared to contradict Moscow's line that any Russian arms supplies to Damascus were agreed before the conflict began
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"There are contracts that had been sealed before the crisis started and were carried out during the crisis. There are other agreements on arms supplies and cooperation that were signed during the crisis and are being carried out now
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They went through some changes to take into account the type of fighting the Syrian army carries out against the terrorists
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Assad gave no details of the weapons being supplied by Russia, the world's second-biggest arms exporter, since the start of the conflic
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In fact, Moscow has always highlighted that there have been and are no embargoes on military cooperation. There are no legal limitations no us
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Russia is a longstanding ally of Assad and is hosting meetings in Moscow on April 6-9 involving some of the more moderate Syrian opposition representatives and Damascus envoys.
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Expectations of a breakthrough are low after a first round of consultations made little progress. Many Syrian opposition figures shunned the January consultations, saying they would appear only at meetings that led to Assad's removal from power
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Two rival Libyan governments claim to control oil policy | Top News | Reuters - 1 views
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Oil traders are concerned about the uncertainty over who is in charge of Libya's vast oil reserves after the Misrata group appointed its own oil minister and took over the official website of state firm National Oil Corp (NOC).
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ncertainty about the oil industry, which had just started to show signs of recovery after Thinni managed to end a blockage of major eastern ports by groups of rebels demanding autonomy.
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Thinni, whose government is recognised by the international community, responded from Bayda, a town east of Benghazi, where his government has relocated and is trying to stay in contact with ministries almost 1,000 km (620 miles) away in Tripoli.
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He said oil revenues for the OPEC member state continued to enter a Libyan bank, which transferred them to the central bank.
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"They are under the control of the state of Libya and the government approved by the Libyan parliament," he said, referring to the elected House of Representatives, which has moved to Tobruk, east of Bayda near the Egyptian border.
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Zawi said oil revenue, Libya's sole source of income, would be around only a fifth of last year's level due to the wave of protests at oilfields and ports.
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Western powers worry that the conflict between the Bayda- and Tripoli-based governments will lead to civil war and that the elected government's nascent army is no match for former rebels of various factions who defy state authority.
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As their sole source of income the control over oil policy and revenue proves to be a huge factor in which government will gain control over the greater Libya. Thinni, the prime minister recognized by the international community, has assured OPEC members that oil revenues are deposited into the Libyan Bank, which then transfers them to the central bank. While this may be true, OPEC members are worried that the continuation of Islamist militant aims for political autonomy through the occupation and attacks on oil ports. BPD have already become a fifth of what they maintained just one year ago.
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Syria talks in Moscow to focus on humanitarian issues | Reuters - 0 views
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(Reuters) - The Syrian government and some opposition figures will start a second round of talks in Moscow on Monday focusing on humanitarian issues, although a broader agreement is unlikely as Syria's main opposition group continues to boycott the talks.
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January's unproductive first round of consultations in Moscow was shunned by the main political opposition group, the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition
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take part only if the talks were to lead to the departure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Russia
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Russia says fighting terrorism in Syria should be the top priority now and has called on the opposition to work with Assad to that end
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Randa Kassis, a former SNC member who now favors talking to Damascus because of the rise of radical Islamists in Syri
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Moscow has not said which opposition figures will attend. But the line-up is likely to be similar to January, when more than 30 representatives of various groups attended, most from groups tolerated by Assad or who agree that working with Damascus is necessary to combat the rise of Islamic Stat
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released 650 prisoners from at least three prisons in Damascus on March 25-27, including women, children, political prisoners and fighter
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Syrian aircraft bomb area near captured Jordan crossing | Reuters - 0 views
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Syrian military aircraft bombed areas close to its main crossing into Jordan on Thursday, witnesses and a group monitoring the conflict said, hours after insurgents had captured the border post
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Insurgents fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad said they had seized the Nasib crossing in southern Syria late on Wednesday, putting most of 370-km (230-mile) border area stretching up to Israel in the hands of the rebels
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he al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front also said it had captured the crossing but rival rebels denied this and accused them of looting after the crossing fell into rebel hands.
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Jordan closed its side of the crossing on Wednesday. A Jordanian source said on Thursday the kingdom had stepped up security and redeployed some troops to the border
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The Syrian army, which accuses the staunch U.S. ally of harboring rebels on its soil, said the kingdom had deployed its troops inside the crossing after the rebels took control. Amman denies providing training and arms for the insurgents
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ordan has pressured rebels in the past not to overrun the Nasib crossing so the highway could stay open to trade and traffic with Damascus
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Nasib, one of Syria's last official border crossings, is now crucial for importing goods into a country hit hard by Western sanctions
Palestinian children tortured, used as shields by Israel: U.N. | Reuters - 0 views
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Kurds battle Assad's forces in Syria, opening new front in civil war | Reuters - 0 views
uk.reuters.com/...ia-kurds-idUKKBN0KQ0KC20150117
Kurdish Syria civil war middle east military battle forces revolution
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Hezbollah sees Islamic State insurgents as threat to Gulf, Jordan | Reuters - 0 views
'No' from one Iraq villager triggered Islamic State mass killings | Reuters - 0 views
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Russia's Putin, Egypt's Sisi say committed to fighting terrorism | Reuters - 0 views
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United by a deep hostility toward Islamists, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Russia's Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday they were both committed to fighting the threat of terrorism.
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Sisi, who is fighting a raging Islamist insurgency in the Sinai region, said Putin had agreed with him that "the challenge of terrorism that faces Egypt, and which Russia also faces, does not stop at any borders
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utin, making his first state visit to Egypt in a decade, said they agreed on "reinforcing our efforts in combating terrorism
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The Kremlin chief was the first leader of a major power to visit Egypt since former army chief Sisi became president in 2014
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Sisi has repeatedly called for concerted counter-terrorism efforts in the Middle East and the West. Egypt has fought Islamist militancy for decades, mostly through security crackdowns that have weakened, but failed to eliminate, radical group
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Putin has also resorted to force against Islamists, sending troops to quell a separatist rebellion in Chechnya, but still confronts insurgents in parts of the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region
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Egypt and the Soviet Union were close allies until the 1970s when Cairo moved closer to the United States, which brokered its 1979 peace deal with Israel.
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Putin, facing Western isolation and sanctions over his support for pro-Russian separatists in neighboring Ukraine, received a grand welcome in Cair
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Putin said he expected a new round of talks on the Syrian conflict, following on from a meeting of some opposition figures and the Damascus government in Moscow last month
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The Moscow talks, which ended on Jan. 29, were not seen as yielding a breakthrough as they were shunned by the key political opposition in Syria and did not involve the main insurgent groups fighting on the ground
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France, Britain dismiss calls to renew relations with Syria's Assad | Reuters - 0 views
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France and Britain dismissed on Friday any suggestion of restoring relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying this would likely end all hope of a political transition and push moderates into the arms of radical Islamist groups.
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With the rise of Islamic State insurgents, some European |Union member states are critical of the position in Paris and London and say it might be time to re-establish communication with Damascus given that a four-year-old revolt has failed to overthrow Assad
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"In reality, Bashar represents injustice, chaos and terror. We, France and Britain, say no to all three
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the French and British foreign ministers hit back at those who sought a rapprochement with Assad by saying he was using the fear of Islamic State, which has seized wide areas of northern and eastern Syria, to win back international support
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countries would have to work with Assad to defeat Islamic State, while the U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said earlier this month that Assad must be part of the solution for defusing the conflict in Syria
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This week a four-man cross-party delegation of French parliamentarians traveled to Syria and some met with Assad, and triggering a national debate on the issue
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An initially peaceful street uprising against Assad has spiraled into a civil war that has seen a level of suffering some diplomats see as justifying contacts with Damascus in pursuit of a political solution
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Britain and France see Assad's departure as a precondition of peace negotiations but the collapse of his government has become less likely as the war grinds on inconclusively
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For our own security, we must defeat Islamic State in Syria. We need a partner that can act against extremists. We need a negotiated political settlement
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compromise would be needed between elements of the existing government and relatively moderate opponents of Assad.
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Bloody Proxy War in Libya: Qatar & Turkey vs. UAE & Egypt | Clarion Project - 0 views
www.clarionproject.org/...-qatar-and-turkey-vs-uae-egypt
proxy wars polarization libya clarion project civil war politics
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Fresh clashes broke out in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Sunday, forcing the city's airport to close down. Mitiga airport has functioned as Tripoli's primary airport since Tripoli International Airport was damaged and ceased to operate in August.
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On November 6 the Tobruk parliament was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Tripoli. However, parliamentarians in Tobruk immediately hit back, saying that because Tripoli is largely in the hands of Islamists, the Supreme Court's decision was made under duress.
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Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni said Qatar sent 3 loaded planes with weapons to Tripoli. This is in keeping with Qatar's actions throughout the region. One diplomat from an undisclosed MENA country spoke to Telegraph saying "They [Qatar] are partly responsible for Jabhat al-Nusra having money and weapons and everything they need." Jabhat al-Nusra is the official Al-Qaeda affiliate fighting in the Syrian Civil War.
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Qatar's involvement in Libya goes back to the revolution that overthrew former Prime Minister Muammar Gaddafi. In 2012, then leader of the Libyan National Transitional Council Mustafa Abdul Jibril said at a Ramadan celebration event: "Doha [Qatar] has been supporting Islamic movements as part of its vision to help establish an Arab regime that adopts Islamic Shariah law as a main source of governance." He said that Qatar had contributed $2 billion to the revolution.
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The bloodshed is greatly exacerbated by the relentless funding of Islamist militias across the region by Turkey and Qatar.
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Conflict broke out in the Libyan capital Tripoli forcing Mitiga airport, primary airport since Tripoli International was closed due to damages, to close down worsening the bloody proxy war thus escalating the crisis. Egypt and UAE have been aiding the Islamic opposition, helping to fight against the Islamic militants backed by Turkey and Qatar. Apparently Qatar's involvement in Libya goes back to the revolution that ousted Gaddafi, contributing $2 billion in support of the Islamic movements as a part of its vision to establish an Arab regime ruling through Sharia Law. As of now, no players are willing to compromise in this "state of war."
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Islamic State executes three of its Chinese militants: China paper | Reuters - 0 views
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But Beijing has also shown no sign of wanting to take part in the U.S.-led coalition's efforts to use military force against the militant group
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Chinese man was "arrested, tried and shot dead" in Syria in late September by the Islamic State after he became disillusioned with jihad and attempted to return to Turkey to attend university
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"Another two Chinese militants were beheaded in late December in Iraq, along with 11 others from six countries. The Islamic State charged them with treason and accused them of trying to escape
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Chinese officials blame separatists from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for carrying out attacks in Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people. But they are vague about how many people from China are fighting in the Middle Eas
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"China is willing to work with the international community to combat terrorist forces, including ETIM, and safeguard global peace, security and stability," Hong said.
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Human rights advocates say economic marginalization of Uighurs and curbs on their culture and religion are the main causes of ethnic violence in Xinjiang and around China that has killed hundreds of people in recent years. China denies these assertions.
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hina has criticized the Turkish government for offering shelter to Uighur refugees who have fled through southeast Asia, saying it creates a global security risk.
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The Islamic State has killed three Chinese militants who joined its ranks in Syria and Iraq and later attempted to flee
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China has expressed concern about the rise of the Islamic State, nervous about the effect it could have on its Xinjiang region, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan.