Xinjiang riot hits regional anti-terror nerve
- Source: Xinhua
- [16:53 July 18 2009]
- Comments
As the casualties rise from the July 5 riot in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, experts have warned that terrorism might be the real driving force behind the violence.
Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna said in a telephone interview with Xinhua on Friday that the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), which China alleges instigated the riot, is closely associated with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a separatist group that has been labeled by the U.N. Security Council as well as the Chinese and U.S. governments a terrorist organization.
"There are many sympathizers and supporters of the ETIM in the WUC," said Prof. Gunaratna, who heads the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
"The ETIM is a big threat for the central Asian area. China needs more anti-terror specialists and should improve intelligence work on the ETIM and train more police in counter-terrorism," Gunaratna said.
The nature of the riot, which left at least 197 Han and Uygur people dead, has worried China's leaders as the country might facenew terrorist threats.
Gunaratna also suggested that member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) should share terrorism intelligence and make a common terrorist database.
The SCO has said it would enhance cooperation among member states in terms of fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism to maintain peace and stability in the region.
Bolat Nurgaliev, the rotating secretary-general of the inter-governmental organization founded in 2001, told Xinhua the situation in Xinjiang is crucial for the stability of surrounding areas.
"The situation in Xinjiang has considerable influence on the whole of central Asia. The negative effects of the July 5 riot not only are seen in the local area, but also spread to neighboring regions."
Nurgaliev pointed to Xinjiang's abundant oil and gas resources and other materials.
"To take full advantage of such resources, many modern facilities were built there, including the essential crude oil pipelines," he said, implying that such facilities, in addition to people, might become new targets of global terrorism.
The six SCO member states Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,Tajikistan and Uzbekistan signed a series of agreements on fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in June.
To coordinate the armed forces under the framework of the SCO, the member states have engaged in joint anti-terrorism military exercises code-named "Peace Mission" since 2005.
Chinese and Russian armed forces will conduct the third exercise of its kind next week in Russia's Khabarovsk and China's northeast Jilin Province.