A Chinese National Appears To Be Fighting With Al-Qaeda In Syria

There's been evidence of a Japanese trucker taking pictures in Aleppo and a Russian judge reporting on government troops near Damascus, and now it appears a Chinese national is fighting with jihadist rebels in Syria.

A YouTube video entitled "A message of victory to the people of China from the Mujahidin Brigade Front" features a Chinese man embedded with an al-Qaeda affiliate, blogger Eliot Higgins pointed out on Monday.

Isaac Stone Fish and J. Dana Stuster of Foreign Policy translated the video, in which a man named "Bo Wang" — he introduces himself as "Yusef" — talks about converting to Islam and fighting with Libyans in their "revolutionary" war while holding a Kalashnikov (with a mounted bayonet). An al-Qaeda flag waves in the background.

From Foreign Policy:

"As a Chinese Muslim, I'd like to deeply apologize" to the Syrian people "in utter misery from the flames of war," he says. "Also," he continues, "I am representing all of the Muslims in warning the Chinese government to immediately stop all forms of aid to [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad], including selling arms to them, including economic aid."

Higgins, who tracks weapons and rebel groups in Syria on his Brown Moses blog and Twitter feed, noted that it was the first time he noticed a Chinese national fighting alongside jihadists in the country.

Here's the video (it's in Mandarin with Arabic subtitles):