A group of foreigners, including nine Britons, who were arrested in China, are suspected of distributing “terrorist videos,” local officials have said.
Six of the Britons are to be deported, the Foreign Office has said.
The three other Britons and two people with joint UK-South African nationality are understood still to be in custody.
They group were on a tour of ancient China when they were held on July 10 at Ordos in the Inner Mongolia region, the BBC reports.
The Foreign Office has requested an explanation for the group’s detention.
Gift of the Givers, a humanitarian relief organisation based in South Africa, said none of the group had been charged.
Zhang Xi, an official in Ordos in charge of dealing with foreigners, said: “These people are suspected of watching and spreading violent terrorist videos and were arrested last Friday.”
They have been visited by the British consulate, the official added.
China Odyssey Tours, a travel agency based in China, has said the group was on one of its tours.
Gift of the Givers said among those still held were a number of South Africans and one Indian.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the charity said the tour went “horribly wrong” when the party was arrested at Ordos Airport.