Retired English tourists held for a week in Chinese prison

AN elderly British couple who spent a week in prison in Inner Mongolia over an “unfortunate misunderstanding” in which they were accused of links to terrorism, were last night returning home after Chinese authorities released them without charge.

Hoosain Jacobs, 74, and his wife, Tahira, 68, from Hounslow, west London, were half way through a 47day sight-seeing tour of China with friends when they were arrested at an airport and accused of watching a terrorist video in their hotel room.

The entire group of 20 British, South African and Indian tourists were detained on July 10. Eleven, including four Britons, were released quickly, while nine more were held until yesterday. They had their phones confiscated and were held for two days, in “not good conditions”, before consular visits were allowed.

Relations of the couple, both retired company directors, yesterday insisted they were watching a documentary about Genghis Khan, whose mausoleum they had visited the day before.

“They watched the documentary on Genghis Khan to further their understanding of the region, and this may have mistakenly been deemed as propaganda material,” the Jacobs family’s statement read. “It can only be assumed that junior officials who made the initial arrest in Inner Mongolia made a mistake, due to perhaps their unfamiliarity of the English language.”

There is still no confirmation of why the group, made up of mostly elderly middle-class professionals, were held at Ordos airport. They were released after lengthy diplomatic negotiations.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office last night said it had been assured about the “health and treatment” of the couple and another unnamed Briton.

Imtiaz Sooliman, from South Africa’s Gift of the Givers charity which campaigned for the release, praised the intervention of Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African deputy president, who was on a state visit to China this week.