East Turkestan Islamic Movement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.
This article has been tagged since January 2007.

The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is a militant Uyghur Islamic organization that advocates the creation of an independent Islamic state of East Turkestan in Xinjiang, China. Based on a report issued by the Chinese government, ETIM is considered by the governments of the People's Republic of China and the United States to have links to Al-Qaeda and to be a terrorist organization.[1] Hasan Mahsum founded and led ETIM until the Pakistani Army shot and killed him on 2 October 2003.

China and Turkmenistan have designated and banned ETIM as a terrorist organization.[2]

While the Chinese government has alleged ties between ETIM and the Taliban and Al Qaeda, ETIM leader Mahsum denied organizational ties.[3]

The designation of ETIM as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States has been controversial with critics arguing that the designation is unfair and intended mainly to improve U.S.-China relations, specifically to gain Chinese support for the U.S.-led War in Iraq. In August 2002 the Bush administration announced it would freeze the group’s US assets.[citation needed]

In 2002 the United Nations recognized ETIM as a terrorist organization.

The Chinese government says ETIM members are responsible for several car bomb attacks in Xinjiang in the 1990s, as well as the death of a Chinese diplomat in Kyrgyzstan in 2002. But the group has neither admitted nor denied such accusations. Several arrested members of the group admitted, however, that they were trained by Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Uyghur detainees in Guantanamo

Main article: Uyghur detainees in Guantanamo

Approximately two dozen Uighurs were held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba. On March 3, 2006 the U.S. Department of Defense was forced to release the transcripts of detainees who had attended their Combatant Status Review Tribunals. Most of the Uighur detainees faced allegations that they were tied to the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, Al-Qaeda, or the Taliban. They denied all such ties.[citation needed]

Five of the Uyghur detainees were among the 38 detainees the Tribunals determined were not "enemy combatants" after all. The United States government did not grant the Uyghurs asylum. But neither would they repatriate them to China, fearing that the Muslims would be tortured or executed by China.[4]

On 5 May 2006 the five Uighurs were transported to Albania.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ One Nation Divided Time
  2. ^ Turkmenistan: President ends China visit after forming front against Uyghurs RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
  3. ^ Uyghur Separatist Denies Links to Taliban, Al-Qaeda Radio Free Asia
  4. ^ Cody, Edward. China demands that Albania return ex-U.S. detainees. Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Groups designated as terrorist organizations by the Government of Kazakhstan
Asbat an-Ansar · Muslim Brotherhood · Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami · Boz Kurt · Jamaat of Central Asian Mujahedins · East Turkestan Liberation Organization · Kurdistan Workers Party · Al-Qaeda · Aum Shinrikyo · Social Reforms Society · Taliban · Lashkar-e-Toiba · Islamic Party of Eastern Turkestan · Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../e/a/s/East_Turkestan_Islamic_Movement_8557.html"
In other languages