Al-Qaeda Group Vows to Avenge Uighur Deaths in China (Update1)
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By Bloomberg News
July 14 (Bloomberg) -- Al-Qaeda’s North African wing has vowed to avenge the deaths of Muslim Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang province by targeting Chinese workers in Algeria, a risk analysis company said in a report.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said it will target the 50,000 Chinese workers in Algeria and Chinese nationals and projects across northwest Africa, said Stirling Assynt, which has offices in London and Hong Kong.
“This threat should be taken seriously,” the company said, adding that three weeks ago the group ambushed a convoy of Algerian security forces protecting Chinese engineers, killing 24 Algerians.
Almost 200 people have been killed this month in clashes between ethnic Uighurs and Han Chinese in Urumqi, the capital of China’s westernmost Xinjiang province, in the nation’s worst ethnic violence in decades. Violence in Urumqi erupted again yesterday as police shot and killed two Uighur men armed with knives and sticks who were attacking another Uighur man, the city government said in a statement.
Thousands of paramilitary and regular police have been deployed in the city to maintain peace.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which wants to impose an Islamic state in Algeria, was founded in the mid-1990s. It pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden in 2003. The Maghreb is the Arabic name for the North African countries of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Internet ‘Chatter’
It is the first militant group to formally react to the violence in Xinjiang province, Stirling Assynt said. The company said there had been an increase in “chatter” on the Internet among so-called jihadists, or militants engaged in a holy war, about the need for action “to avenge the perceived injustices in Xinjiang.”
“Some of these individuals have been actively seeking information on China’s interests in the Muslim world which they could use for targeting purposes,” Stirling Assynt said, adding locations included North Africa, Sudan, Pakistan and Yemen.
Other militant groups may make similar threats and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula “could well target Chinese projects in Yemen,” according to the report.
Ethnic Han Chinese make up more than 90 percent of the nation’s population. Muslim Uighurs, who make up less than half of Xinjiang’s 20 million population after years of Han migration, complain of discrimination and unfair division of the region’s resources. The landlocked province, about three times the size of France, has China’s second-highest oil and natural gas reserves and was the biggest cotton producer.
Uighur Protesters
Hundreds of Uighur protesters attacked Han Chinese, smashed businesses and set fire to buses in Urumqi on July 5. Two days later, thousands of local Han Chinese took to the streets armed with machetes, steel bars and other weapons seeking retribution.
Police fired tear gas and formed barricades to stop them from entering Urumqi’s Uighur neighborhoods. The clashes killed 184 people as of July 10.
Chinese President Hu Jintao cut short his trip to the Group of Eight summit in Italy so he could return to Beijing to deal with the unrest.
Urumqi residents were ordered on July 12 to always carry their citizen identity cards or driver’s licenses, the official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. Anyone found not to be carrying identification will be taken by police for interrogation, the Beijing-based news service said.
For Related News and Information: Find stories about Urumqi: NSE URUMQI IN TOPIC: CHINA <GO> Most-read stories about China today: MNI CHINA 1D <GO> China economic statistics: ECST CH <GO> Terrorism Stories: TERR <GO>
Last Updated: July 13, 2009 20:54 EDT
Share | Email | Print | A A A
By Bloomberg News
July 14 (Bloomberg) -- Al-Qaeda’s North African wing has vowed to avenge the deaths of Muslim Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang province by targeting Chinese workers in Algeria, a risk analysis company said in a report.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said it will target the 50,000 Chinese workers in Algeria and Chinese nationals and projects across northwest Africa, said Stirling Assynt, which has offices in London and Hong Kong.
“This threat should be taken seriously,” the company said, adding that three weeks ago the group ambushed a convoy of Algerian security forces protecting Chinese engineers, killing 24 Algerians.
Almost 200 people have been killed this month in clashes between ethnic Uighurs and Han Chinese in Urumqi, the capital of China’s westernmost Xinjiang province, in the nation’s worst ethnic violence in decades. Violence in Urumqi erupted again yesterday as police shot and killed two Uighur men armed with knives and sticks who were attacking another Uighur man, the city government said in a statement.
Thousands of paramilitary and regular police have been deployed in the city to maintain peace.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which wants to impose an Islamic state in Algeria, was founded in the mid-1990s. It pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden in 2003. The Maghreb is the Arabic name for the North African countries of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Internet ‘Chatter’
It is the first militant group to formally react to the violence in Xinjiang province, Stirling Assynt said. The company said there had been an increase in “chatter” on the Internet among so-called jihadists, or militants engaged in a holy war, about the need for action “to avenge the perceived injustices in Xinjiang.”
“Some of these individuals have been actively seeking information on China’s interests in the Muslim world which they could use for targeting purposes,” Stirling Assynt said, adding locations included North Africa, Sudan, Pakistan and Yemen.
Other militant groups may make similar threats and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula “could well target Chinese projects in Yemen,” according to the report.
Ethnic Han Chinese make up more than 90 percent of the nation’s population. Muslim Uighurs, who make up less than half of Xinjiang’s 20 million population after years of Han migration, complain of discrimination and unfair division of the region’s resources. The landlocked province, about three times the size of France, has China’s second-highest oil and natural gas reserves and was the biggest cotton producer.
Uighur Protesters
Hundreds of Uighur protesters attacked Han Chinese, smashed businesses and set fire to buses in Urumqi on July 5. Two days later, thousands of local Han Chinese took to the streets armed with machetes, steel bars and other weapons seeking retribution.
Police fired tear gas and formed barricades to stop them from entering Urumqi’s Uighur neighborhoods. The clashes killed 184 people as of July 10.
Chinese President Hu Jintao cut short his trip to the Group of Eight summit in Italy so he could return to Beijing to deal with the unrest.
Urumqi residents were ordered on July 12 to always carry their citizen identity cards or driver’s licenses, the official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. Anyone found not to be carrying identification will be taken by police for interrogation, the Beijing-based news service said.
For Related News and Information: Find stories about Urumqi: NSE URUMQI IN TOPIC: CHINA <GO> Most-read stories about China today: MNI CHINA 1D <GO> China economic statistics: ECST CH <GO> Terrorism Stories: TERR <GO>
Last Updated: July 13, 2009 20:54 EDT
