China has warned Switzerland that its decision to take in two Uighur prisoners from Guantánamo Bay may adversely affect relations between the two countries.

The Chinese government says the two men are terrorists and demands their extradition. The Uighurs are a predominantly Muslim Turkic ethnic group living in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.

The two Uighurs accepted by Switzerland form part of a group of 22 detained by US troops in Afghanistan and transferred to the controversial Guantánamo Bay prison camp in Cuba. US President Barack Obama wants to close the camp and is looking for countries willing to take in the Guantánamo inmates. 

Photo: The Chinese province of Xinjiang (Flickr /Futureatlas.com)