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Official: China Terror Group Has Links to Al Qaeda, Taliban
Friday, March 09, 2007
BEIJING - Lawmakers from China's restive western Muslim region said Friday
that 18 suspects killed in a raid on an alleged terror camp in January had
links to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Shi Dagang, a lawmaker from the Xinjiang region, also confirmed that 18
people from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, died in the raid
and 17 others were arrested.
"They had close connections to Al Qaeda," Shi said at a news conference
during China's annual legislative session.
"There terrorists were trained by the Taliban in Afghanistan and sent to
China by them," Shi said, adding that more than 1,500 semi-assembled
grenades were seized in the raid east of China's border with Kyrgyzstan.
"They were trained overseas and sent to China by overseas terror
organizations to engage in disruptive activities," Shi said, without giving
specific details about the alleged links or what their goal had been.
China has said before that ETIM has links to Al Qaeda, and labels the group
a terrorist organization, as does the United States.
China has long said that militants among the region's dominant ethnic
Uighurs are leading a violent Islamic separatist movement in Xinjiang. The
Uighurs are Turkic-speaking Muslims with a language and culture distinct
from the majority of Chinese.
Critics accuse Beijing of using claims of terrorism as an excuse to crack
down on peaceful pro-independence sentiment and expressions of Uighur
identity.
About two dozen Uighurs were captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan
following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
China has demanded their return, but the United States fears they might face
persecution there. Five Uighurs were sent to Albania last year after no
other country would accept them.
Ismail Tiliwaldi, chairman of the Xinjiang Uighur region, told the same news
conference that the government is making efforts to improve the situation in
the area by accelerating economic and social development.
"Xinjiang enjoys social stability and there is little room for activities of
the East Turkestan terrorist forces because we now have more good guys and
fewer bad guys," he said.
Official: China Terror Group Has Links to Al Qaeda, Taliban
Friday, March 09, 2007
BEIJING - Lawmakers from China's restive western Muslim region said Friday
that 18 suspects killed in a raid on an alleged terror camp in January had
links to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Shi Dagang, a lawmaker from the Xinjiang region, also confirmed that 18
people from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, died in the raid
and 17 others were arrested.
"They had close connections to Al Qaeda," Shi said at a news conference
during China's annual legislative session.
"There terrorists were trained by the Taliban in Afghanistan and sent to
China by them," Shi said, adding that more than 1,500 semi-assembled
grenades were seized in the raid east of China's border with Kyrgyzstan.
"They were trained overseas and sent to China by overseas terror
organizations to engage in disruptive activities," Shi said, without giving
specific details about the alleged links or what their goal had been.
China has said before that ETIM has links to Al Qaeda, and labels the group
a terrorist organization, as does the United States.
China has long said that militants among the region's dominant ethnic
Uighurs are leading a violent Islamic separatist movement in Xinjiang. The
Uighurs are Turkic-speaking Muslims with a language and culture distinct
from the majority of Chinese.
Critics accuse Beijing of using claims of terrorism as an excuse to crack
down on peaceful pro-independence sentiment and expressions of Uighur
identity.
About two dozen Uighurs were captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan
following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
China has demanded their return, but the United States fears they might face
persecution there. Five Uighurs were sent to Albania last year after no
other country would accept them.
Ismail Tiliwaldi, chairman of the Xinjiang Uighur region, told the same news
conference that the government is making efforts to improve the situation in
the area by accelerating economic and social development.
"Xinjiang enjoys social stability and there is little room for activities of
the East Turkestan terrorist forces because we now have more good guys and
fewer bad guys," he said.
