China has sealed its border with Pakistan for fear that terrorists might seek refuge in China after last week`s attacks in the United States, a government official said on Monday.
The border was completely closed for two days from September 12, the day after hijackers crashed jetliners into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, said a government spokesman in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang.
China has since reopened the border to travelers going to Pakistan, but the border is closed to people of all nationalities coming in from Pakistan, said the spokesman, Ablimit Ibrahim. "Because of the September 11 incident, there are fears some terrorists may come to China or pass through to other places," he said in a telephone interview. "It`s a preventive measure."
"You can go back but you can`t come out from Pakistan," he said.
The order to seal the border came from the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing, Ibrahim said. He did not know how long the border would be closed.
He said there was no information that terrorists have already come to China.
China and Pakistan are linked by a highway that passes over the Karakoram mountains from Kashgar in Xinjiang to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. The route is popular with foreign backpackers and Pakistani traders.
US President George W Bush says Saudi exile Osama Bin Laden is the "prime suspect" in last Tuesday`s attacks. Bin Laden lives in Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan and China. Bureau Report