Peking University Grad Student Mistakenly Arrested as ISIS in Iraq

Peking University Grad Student Mistakenly Arrested as ISIS in Iraq
Jul 24, 2015 By eChinacities.com

Peking University student Xu Bin, who was arrested by Iraqi forces on suspicion of being a member of ISIS, may be released back to China this week.

On Xu Bin's arrest, Iraqi news first reported that Iraqi forces in Iraq's western Anbar province arrested a Chinese man who was a member of the Islamic State (ISIS). The report featured a picture of a young bearded man wearing sports gear between two guards both holding guns.

The Chinese Embassy in Iraq said that a Chinese citizen had been detained by Iraqi police but was not “regarded as an Iraqi terrorist.”

Xu Bin is a student at Peking University's Graduate School or Archaeology and Museology and was arrested while traveling to ancient sites in Iraq. Xu had traveled to the Middle East before to explore historic sites. Last summer, he had toured the Middle East for 44 days traveling from China to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Armenia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Xu had been hoping to travel to Iraq for some time. “He always said that he could not ignore the pearls of the Middle East because of war and unrest. It would be his biggest regret not to see the sites of ancient Babylonian culture and civilization,” said Xu's classmate.

Xu's classmate added that Xu had also grown a beard last year for security reasons in preparation for his trip. “I did not expect anything to happen to him, and now we are looking forward to his safe return.”

Peking University has confirmed that Xu Bin is a graduate student at the university. University officials said that they have learned through the Embassy that Xu will be released next week. Peking University added that it will do everything it can to protect its student and help him return home.

Source:inews.qq.com

Warning:The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

Keywords: Beijing student ISIS Xu Bin Peking University

1 Comments

All comments are subject to moderation by eChinacities.com staff. Because we wish to encourage healthy and productive dialogue we ask that all comments remain polite, free of profanity or name calling, and relevant to the original post and subsequent discussion. Comments will not be deleted because of the viewpoints they express, only if the mode of expression itself is inappropriate.

wagon

"Peking University added that it will do everything it can to protect its student and help him return home." What? Do they just make stuff up? What's Beida going to do?

Jul 26, 2015 21:17 Report Abuse