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Freedom, Independence and Democracy for East Turkistan ! |
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E-mail: etic@uygur.org |
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China Releases List of Wanted Terror Group Leaders
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 21, 2008 Filed at 8:56 a.m. ET BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese police called Tuesday for the arrest and extradition to China of the alleged leader of an Islamic terrorist group and seven core members accused of plotting attacks against the Beijing Olympics. A Public Security Ministry spokesman said the eight men, all Chinese citizens, were believed to have financed, incited and organized attacks during and around the Aug. 8-24 games as part of an ongoing insurgency against Chinese rule in the traditionally Muslim west. Wu Heping told reporters at a news briefing that the men were members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a murky collection of extremists believed to be based across the border in lawless areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan The eight ''seriously threatened the security of the Beijing Olympic Games and China's social stability, while at the same time composing a threat to the security and stability of relevant countries and the region,'' Wu said. Wu did not say in what country the men were suspected of hiding and left the briefing without taking questions. After years of relative quiet, the western region of Xinjiang was rocked in August by a series of guerrilla-style attacks and bombings that killed 33 people. The violence was reportedly carried out by radicals among Xinjiang's native Uighur ethnic group, Muslims whose language, culture and religion is distinct from China's Han majority. Like Tibetans, many Uighurs complain of a colonial-style Chinese presence on their territory, chafing under tight religious and cultural strictures and complaining that economic development has disproportionately benefited Chinese migrants. Beijing says police stopped a number of other terrorist plots before they could be carried out, but it has provided little direct evidence to support authorities' claims that they were ordered by Islamic Movement leaders based across the border. Overseas Uighur activists say such accusations are politically motivated and designed to justify strict curbs on religious, political and cultural rights in Xinjiang. Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Germany-based World Uighur Congress, said Tuesday's announcement was part of an attempt to provide legal cover for a wide-ranging crackdown on Uighurs that followed the Olympics. China's refusal to publicly release evidence or allow an independent investigation into the recent attacks undercuts its accusations of terrorism, he said. ''I have never heard of these people and none of these accusations have been independently confirmed, but I'm sure they will use them to ratchet up pressure further in Xinjiang,'' Raxit said in a telephone interview. A news release issued at Wu's press conference offered basic biographical information about the men and vague claims about their alleged terrorist activities. Photographs of seven of the eight men were also included. It identified one man, 37-year-old Memetiming Memeti, as the leader of the movement, saying he had joined the group in an unidentified South Asian country after leaving home in 1998 and assumed the leadership after its former chief was killed in a skirmish with security forces in Pakistan in 2003. Others accused include 33-year-old university graduate Tuersun Toheti, a bomb maker blamed for planning attacks on Chinese targets outside the country. The release did not link the men to specific incidents, although one of them bore the alias ''Saifula'' that was also used by a man shown issuing threats against the Olympics on a videotaped messaged released in July. In the video, a masked man speaking Uighur claimed responsibility for a bus bombing in the Chinese city of Kunming and warned spectators and athletes, ''particularly the Muslims,'' not to attend the Olympics. Li Wei, a counterterrorism expert at a Chinese government-backed think tank, said Tuesday's announcement was a sign of China's sustained commitment to defeating the extremists following the end of the Olympics. ''China's major investment in Olympic security has helped them apprehend evidence of potential terrorist activity,'' said Li, who speculated that the eight named men were hiding in neighboring Central Asian states. ''However, counterterrorism is also a long-term task which the government should devote their resources to continuously,'' Li said. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-AS-China-Terror.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |
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Copyright © www.uygur.org . All rights reserved 20.04.2009 01:42 A. Karakash |
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