China has linked a series of attacks by Islamic separatists in Xinjiang region with Osama bin Laden, stepping up a campaign for international support in its own war on terrorism. The cabinet's information office outlined the allegations in a report that blamed "East Turkestan" forces for more than 200 incidents between 1990 and 2001 in Xinjiang, home of Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs. The report said 162 people had been killed and more than 440 injured, and that militants seeking a separate state called East Turkestan had masterminded incidents in Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, posing a threat to regional security. Forces led by bin Laden, Washington's chief suspect for September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, gave financial and material aid to East Turkestan separatists. Bin Laden met the leader of one group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, in early 1999.
Gosh, these bedfellows sure are strange. "The enemy of my enemy is... my esteemed trading partner"? |