Hunt is on for Uygur eight

Wednesday, October 22, 2008



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Beijing has published a list of eight men from its Muslim northwest who it said are terrorists and had threatened the Beijing Olympics in August and appealed to other countries for help in finding them.
"All the eight terrorists listed are members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement," Public Security Bureau spokesman Wu Heping said.

"And they all took part in plotting, organizing and executing various terrorist activities targeting the Beijing Olympic Games."

The movement, listed by China, the United States and the United Nations as a terrorist organization, has been striving for many years to create an independent homeland in the Muslim-populated Xinjiang region.

Xinjiang is a vast area of mountains and deserts that borders central Asia. Many of its 8.3 million Uygurs, a Muslim minority speaking a Turkic language, say they have suffered decades of repression under communist rule.

Further, Uygur dissidents and rights groups claim Beijing has exaggerated the terrorism threat in Xinjiang to justify a harsh security crackdown there.

Wu appealed to other countries for help in capturing the eight: "We hope the governments of relevant countries and law-enforcement agencies will track them down, immediately arrest them and hand them over to China so that we can hold them responsible for their crimes."

All eight are Chinese nationals with Uygur names. Wu alleged some of them organized terrorist training, recruited members, raised funds for terrorist activities and manufactured poisons and explosives. Others participated in militant training.

China reported a wave of violence before and during the Beijing Olympic Games in Xinjiang and laid much of the blame on militant Uygurs. Authorities said more than 30 people died in violence in Xinjiang during August.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

From:http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=3&art_id=73248&sid=21097081&con_type=1&d_str=20081022&fc=4