AP: Falun Gong members barred from boarding Iceland-bound plane ahead of Chinese president's visit

Wed Jun 12, 8:25 AM ET

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - A group of Falun Gong practitioners was barred from boarding an Iceland-bound plane in Copenhagen on Wednesday to prevent a demonstration during a four-day visit by China's President Jiang.

Iceland, a small North Atlantic island nation, has barred all members of the Falun Gong movement from entering the country, saying it does not have enough police to deal with a large protest against Jiang, who was arriving in Reykjavik later Wednesday.

China banned Falun Gong in July 1999, calling it a threat to communist rule.

Thirty-six Falun Gong members were stopped at the Icelandair check-in counter at the Copenhagen airport. Six Canadian followers were stopped at the gate after they arrived in transit from Helsinki, Finland.

One of those who made it to the gate was Xun Li, a 40-year-old software engineer from Ottawa, who said his name appeared on a list issued by the Icelandic Justice Ministry.

"I deplore this situation," Xun said by telephone from the airport. "We are heading for Iceland to take part in a peace movement" rally.

Xun said the six Canadians were "doing meditation and doing some reading, waiting to see if we can board the next plane."

The deputy chief of mission at the Icelandic Embassy in Copenhagen, Bjarni Sigtryggsson, confirmed that the 42 people had been kept from boarding the plane. The citizenships of the 36 who did not check in were not immediately known.

Sigtryggsson said that another group of 38 people who came from Taiwan via Copenhagen had made it to Iceland on Tuesday but had been detained.

"We have limited the number of people entering our country because we fear it can disturb law and order," Sigtryggsson said.

Astthor Ingasson, Icelandair's station manager at the airport, said the matter was being handled by the embassy.

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