Author: Anil K. Joseph/Beijing
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: April 20, 2007
For the first time, Communist nation points
finger at its 'all-weather' ally
In a major blow to Pakistan's counter-terrorism
credentials, China has for the first time publicly acknowledged the existence
of terrorist camps within the territory of its "all-weather" ally.
It said that some East Turkistan separatists,
who have been fighting for decades to make oil-rich northwest China's Xinjiang
province an independent state, received training at the terrorist camps in
Pakistan.
The damning confirmation came in a court document
in the trial of 37-year-old Huseyin Celil, a China-born Uygur-Canadian, who
was on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chinese court in Urumqi,
the capital of Xinjiang, for "taking part in terrorist activities and
plotting to split the country".
According to the court documents, Celil joined
the East Turkistan Liberation Organisation (ETLO), a listed terrorist group
active in central Asia, in November 1997 and was appointed as a senior instructor
in Kyrgyzstan.
While there, Celil allegedly recruited several
people to the ETLO and sent them to terrorist training camps on the Pamir
Plateau in Pakistan, the court documents said.
Interestingly, the report came hours after
Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz left Beijing following talks with top
Chinese leaders, including President Hu Jintao, during which he discussed
counter-terrorism among other things.
During the talks between Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao and Aziz on Tuesday, the two sides had agreed to cement cooperation
in campaigns against "East Turkistan" separatists in Xinjiang and
combat cross-border crime.
Uygur militants, whom Beijing calls terrorists
or separatists, have been struggling for decades to make oil-rich Xinjiang
an independent state called East Turkistan.
Since the 9/11 terrorist strike against the
United States, China has conducted counter-terrorism campaign in Xinjiang,
arresting top leaders of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the main
separatist group.
Celil was also active in ETIM, for which he
helped raise funds, recruit members and organise training, Xinhua news agency
said.
Citing court documents, it said that in 1997,
Celil met ETIM's former head Hasan Mahsum, who was shot dead by the Pakistan
Army in 2003, and worked directly under Mahsum's command.
In January, Chinese police busted a terrorist
training camp in the Pamir Plateau in Xinjiang, killing 18 "terrorists"
and arresting 17 others. In the raid, one Chinese police officer was killed
and another wounded. PTI
Don't meddle, China tells Canada
China on Thursday asked Canada not to meddle
with the country's internal affairs by protesting the sentencing of a Uygur-Canadian,
who was given life term in prison.
The court found Celil guilty and convicted
him on separatism and terrorism charges. He was sentenced to life on the separatism
charge and 10 years imprisonment on the charge of terrorism.
He will serve life in prison and be deprived
of his political rights for life, the Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi
ruled.
This is the second court verdict in a case
related to Xinjiang separatists.
Celil was given refugee status by Canada in
2001. He was arrested in Uzbekistan in 2006 and extradited to China soon afterward.
Reacting to protests from the Canadian Embassy
here, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told mediapersons that
Beijing hopes that the Canadian Government will not interfere in the internal
affairs of China.
"I think the Canadian side is clear about
the position of the Chinese side. This is an internal affair of China and
the Canadian side has no right to interfere with the case. We hope Canada
can take a right position on the case," Liu said.
But a spokesman for the Canadian embassy in
Beijing said Canadian diplomats had not been allowed into the courtroom when
the verdict was announced.
"The Canadian Government is reviewing
the verdict and will have a reaction in due course. We continue to be in very
close contact with the family and offering them what assistance we can at
this time," the spokesman said.
