Beijing report: Chinese Muslims fighting in Syria

BEIJING (AP) - Chinese state media say Chinese Muslim separatists from the far northwestern region of Xinjiang are fighting alongside Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups opposed to Syria's government.

The official newspaper Global Times reported on Monday that radicals among China's ethnic Turkic Uighur minority have been traveling to Syria since May to join the fighting.

It says groups opposed to Beijing's rule over Xinjiang have been organising passage to Syria for their members. It cites unidentified Chinese anti-terrorism authorities.

The report could not immediately be verified.