China's Chen Guangcheng 'set to fly to US'

Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng - who was at the centre of a diplomatic crisis with the US - says he is at Beijing's airport, where he expects to leave to go to the US.

The blind activist told reporters he did not have a passport, but believed he was going to New York.

Mr Chen recently spent six days in the US embassy in Beijing after escaping house arrest in north-east China.

He wants to leave China and has been offered a place at New York university.

Chen Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who campaigned against forced abortions under China's one-child policy, was jailed for four years in 2006 for disrupting traffic and damaging property, and placed under house arrest after his release in 2010.

On Saturday the US activist group China Aid, which has supported Mr Chen, said he had told the group that he and his family were heading to Beijing airport.

Mr Chen and his family "were informed to pack up and get ready to leave China" for the US, China Aid added.

Last month Mr Chen fled from house arrest in Shandong province. He took refuge at the US embassy during a visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was in Beijing for high-level talks.

On 2 May, after six days at the embassy, he agreed to leave the compound, initially saying he wanted to stay in China.

He was taken to a Beijing hospital to be treated for a foot injury sustained during his escape.

During his stay at the hospital he called the US Congress twice.

On 3 May he pleaded for help to leave China with his family, saying he feared for his safety. On 16 May he called US lawmakers again accusing Shandong authorities of harassing his family.

Mr Chen was offered a place to study law at New York University after Beijing said he would be allowed to apply to study abroad.

The US has said visas for Mr Chen and his family are ready.