A newspaper has cited an intelligence report as saying that Al-Qaida has vowed to avenge the deaths of Muslims in China's Urumqi city by targeting the country's workforce in northwest Africa.
The call for reprisals against China has come from Algeria-based Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the South China Morning Post said, summarising the intelligence report by London-based risk analysis firm Stirling Assynt.
It is the first time Osama bin Laden's network has directly threatened China or its interests, the Stirling report noted, and said that a thirst for vengeance was spreading over the global jihadist community.
"Although AQIM appear to be the first arm of Al-Qaida to officially state they will target Chinese interests, others are likely to follow," the consultancy's report said, according to the Hong Kong newspaper.
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese work in the Middle East and North Africa, including 50,000 in Algeria, the report estimated.
"There is an increasing amount of chatter among jihadists who claim they want to see action against China," it said.
"Some of these individuals have been actively seeking information on China's interests in the Muslim world, which they could use for targeting purposes."
