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China executes accused Muslim separatists
BEIJING (AP) — China has executed two accused Muslim
separatists in the far western region of Xinjiang, a
state newspaper reported.
The report comes as Beijing asks for greater
understanding for its fight against alleged terrorists
following the Sept. 11 attacks.
The pair were taken to an execution ground and shot
immediately after being sentenced at a public rally in
the city of Yili on Monday, the Yili Evening News
reported. It did not name the men.
Three other men were given suspended death sentences —
usually commuted to life in prison after two years —
and several others given prison terms ranging from
five years to life, according to the newspaper. All
had been sentenced for the crime of "splitting the
nation."
The paper is not available in Beijing and the report
was read over the telephone Wednesday by a staff
member who declined to give his name. Court officials
in Yili and Xinjiang's capital Urumqi confirmed the
report but declined to give names or the details of
the alleged crimes.
For years, China has been fighting militants seeking a
separate state in Xinjiang, which borders on central
Asian states, including Afghanistan. Radicals among
the Turkic Muslim Uighur natives, who are culturally
and linguistically distinct from the Chinese majority,
have waged a low-level campaign of bombings and
assassinations against Chinese rule.
China has responded by strictly controlling religious
life and harshly punishing all real or perceived
challenges to its rule.
Beijing has asked for greater sympathy for its
policies in Xinjiang in the wake of the terror attacks
on the United States. Beijing says it supports the
campaign against terrorism and claims to have evidence
that Xinjiang separatists have links with terrorist
groups abroad.
However, critics say China hopes to use the global
fight against terrorism as a cover for increased
repression.
"In order to justify its brutal repression China now
labels those Uighurs whose political activities oppose
Beijing as terrorists, ethnic separatists and
religious fundamentalists," said Dilxat Raxit,
spokesman for the East Turkestan Information Center, a
German-based exiled Uighur group.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.
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