Friday, April 6, 2012

China freezes assets of 6 ultras


Tacitly pointing finger at its close ally Pakistan, China today froze assets of six absconding terrorists of a separatist outfit in Xinjiang, the native province of Muslim Uyghurs, and called on foreign countries to arrest and hand them over to it.

Chinese police today published a list of six militants, who were stated to be native Uyghurs.

Without directly naming Pakistan, a statement issued by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said they had spent some time in "a certain south Asian country", where they reported to have undergone training in terror attacks, suicide bombings and knife attacks.

All six are "core members" of the banned East Turkistan Islamic Movement, (ETIM), it said.

"The ministry hoped that foreign governments and their law enforcing departments would help to arrest the six and hand them over to Chinese authorities," an official of Ministry was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.

"The group is the most direct and real threat China faces for its security", he said.

Asked at a media briefing here today whether the Public Security statement referred to Pakistan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei said the question should be referred to relevant Ministry.

But at the same time he said ETIM is a US Security Council listed terrorist organisation and "it is universally recognised in the international community as an organisation has engaged in lot of activities of crime and violence".

ETIM is not only at serious threat to China but also endangered peace security of "relevant countries and the region", he said.

"Fighting ETIM is an important part of the international campaign against terrorism. The international community should unite as one to jointly fight terrorism," he said.

This is the second time in a month that Pakistan’s reference surfaced in connection with the Xinjiang militants.

Last month Nur Bekri, Chairman of Xinjiang regional government said here on the sidelines of the Parliament session that China had found "thousand one links" with terrorist groups in Pakistan.

"We have certainly discovered that East Turkestan activists and terrorists in our neighbouring states have a thousand and one links. The Pakistani government has also expressed the willingness to maintain China’s sovereignty and core interests in fighting terrorism against China," he has said.

ETIM has carried out some brutal attacks in Xinjiang against the people of main land Chinese Han community, whose growing presence is resented by native Uyghurs, a Turkik speaking Muslim community.

Last July, the local government of Kashghar, a city bordering Pakistan occupied Kashmir, (PoK) said some of the terrorists who took part in the town were trained in Pakistan terrorist camps.

The six "terrorists" who were named today were all core members of the terrorist group the ETIM, the Public Security Ministry statement said and sought the help of the foreign Governments in helping to arrest them and hand them over to Chinese security forces.

"The group is the most direct and real threat China faces for its security" a spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security said.

The Ministry said the six named have participated in the organisation, planning and execution of terrorist acts against Chinese targets within and outside the country.

ETIM is still conducting propaganda and instigation among members of the "three evil forces" of separatism, extremism and terrorism who live in China, and attempts to stage terrorist acts, the statement said.

The six were identified as Nurmemet Memetmin, Abdulkyum Kurban, Paruh Tursun, Tursunjan Ebibla, Nurmemet Raxit, and Mamat Imin Nurmamat, all Uyghurs from Xinjiang.

Nurmemet Memetmin, 47, was one of the founders of the ETIM in 1997.

He set up a terrorist training camp in a South Asian country in 1997 and acted as a military instructor there, Xinhua reported.

He had trained dozens of terrorists, some of whom later became ringleaders, military instructors and core members, it said.

He sent an ETIM member Memtieli Tiliwaldi to China in 2007 after which he along with other militants staged a series of murders, bombings and arsons in Kashgar, Xinjiang in July 2011, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries of civilians and police officers.

Abdulkyum Kurban, 30, is currently a propaganda chief of the ETIM.

He has been inciting extremism and terrorism since 2009 exhorting people to conduct suicide bombings and hack civilians with cleavers.

Paruh Tursun, 40, and Tursunjan Ebibla, 31, were accused of participating in the ETIM and instigating terrorist acts.

Nurmemet Raxit, 42, was accused of recruiting terrorists, assisting with the production of terrorist propaganda videos and providing funds for terrorist acts.

Mamat Imin Nurmamat, 29, had plotted arsons and murders in Shache, Xinjiang in July 2009, which were discovered and stopped by Chinese police.

He received terrorist training in a South Asian country and recruited new members for the ETIM in a Southeast Asian country after he left China.

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