Hasan Mahsum

Hasan Mahsum, also known as Abu-Muhammad al-Turkestani and Ashan Sumut, was the founder and leader of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, considered an Islamic terrorist organization by China and the US and suspected of having ties with Al Qaeda.^[1] He was shot dead in a counter-terrorism operation on October 2, 2003 by the Pakistani Army.^[2]

Political activities

Mahsum, a native of Shule (Kunixar) County, became involved with the East Turkestan independence movement early in his life; in his late 20s, he was already a lecturer at a training camp in Yecheng County, preaching Jihad and advocating the use of violence against Chinese authorities.^[3] He was arrested in October 1993 by the Chinese police for terrorist activities and sentenced to three years of re-education through labour.^[4] After fleeing China in 1997 to Mecca, Mahsum joined the Taliban^[5] and lived in Afghanistan and Pakistan; he held an Afghan passport issued by the Taliban. In early 1999, he was said to have met with Osama bin Laden, who offered him US$300,000 of financial assistance for the East Turkestan Islamic Movement in the following year;^[6] Mahsum himself denied any connection with bin Laden.^[7] The Chinese government has accused him of directing a series of violent terrorist activities including robbery and murder in Urumqi on February 4, 1999 and violent murders in the Khotan region on December 14, 1999;^[8] it is believed that these attacks were actually carried out by an operative of his named Mutalif Kasim.^[3]

In a January 2002 interview with Radio Free Asia Mahsum denied ever receiving any support from al Qaeda.^[1]

In 2015 the Turkistan Islamic Party (East Turkistan Islamic Movement) released an image showing Al Qaeda leaders Ayman al Zawahiri and Osama Bin Laden meeting with Hasan Mahsum.^[9][10]

Death

Chinese, Pakistani, and US officials confirmed that Mahsum was shot dead in an early-morning raid on a suspected al-Qaeda training camp by the Pakistan Army in South Waziristan, near the Afghan border, on October 2, 2003.^[11] The Pakistani army attacked an al-Qaeda hideout in South Waziristan near the border with Afghanistan on 2 October 2003, shooting and killing eight terrorists, including Mahsum. The Beijing News and International Herald Leader initially reported that the United States worked with Pakistan in a joint counter-terrorism operation, but Major General Shaukat Sultan, a spokesman for the Pakistani military, denied U.S. military involvement. Sultan said "DNA tests were conducted to determine it was him." The Chinese government assisted in identifying his body.^[2]

Testimony of Uyghur inmates at Guantanamo Bay on Hasan Mahsum

Several of the Uyghur captives in Guantanamo acknowledged having met or having seen, and individual named Hassan Maksum at a camp in eastern Afghanistan in mid to late 2001.

The purpose of the camp outside of Jalalabad, Afghanistan, where the Uighurs lived for months prior to the United States invasion of Afghanistan, is disputed. Many of the Uyghur captives in Guantanamo claim that the camp was simply a place for Uyghurs fleeing Chinese oppression gathered. Seema Saifee, a lawyer for four of the Uyghurs called the camp an "expatriate village in the mountains."^[12] The United States Intelligence Community considers the camp to be a terrorist training facility hosted by the Taliban and funded by Al Qaida. The camp was located in Nangarhar Province, a majority Pashtun area known for its support of the Taliban, and was surrounded by Al Qaida training camps such as the Derunta Camp.

Abdullah Abdulqadirakhum

Uyghur captive Abdullah Abdulqadirakhum identified an individual named Hassan Maksum as the man who provided him with training on the AK-47.^[13]

American intelligence analysts identified the camp the Uyghurs were constructing as a training camp, and alleged that the Taliban and al Qaeda were sponsoring the Uyghur's military training there. Abdulqadirakhum, and the other Uyghurs, all said the training they were provided was minimal, lasting a few hours, at most, and that most of their time and energy was consumed in their construction work.

Some of the Uyghurs denied receiving any training. They said it was optional, and they had opted out. All the Uyghurs, except Abdulqadirakhum, who acknowledged receiving some training, identified a fellow Uyghur named Abdul Haq as their trainer.

Abdulqadirakhum said that Maksum was killed during the US bombing campaign.

Bahtiyar Mahnut

Uyghur captive Bahtiyar Mahnut testified that he saw an individual named Hassan Mashum visit the camp once.^[14] Bahtiyar Mahnut acknowledged that Hassam Mashum was a Uyghur leader. He disputed, however, that he was a leader of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement [sic], the Eastern Turkestan Organization [sic] or the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party. He testified that during their long resistance to Chinese occupation the Uyghur people had formed a number of groups with names similar to those mentioned in the allegations, but, to the best of his knowledge, Hassan Mashum was a leader of the Freedom Movement Party or the Freedom Organization

Bahtiyar Mahnut did not find the allegation that Hassan Mashum would be allied to al Qaeda credible.^[14]

Adel Noori

The Summary of Evidence memo prepared for Uyghur captive Adel Noori first annual Administrative Review Board stated:^[15]

The detainee traveled to a Uighur safe house in Kabul, Afghanistan to receive training. The Emir of the safe house was Hassan Mahsum, the leader of the East Tajikistan Islamic Party [sic]. Hassan Mahsum visited the safe house a few days after detainee arrived at the safe house in August 2001, and again at the onset of the United States bombing campaign in October 2001. Hassan Maksoon (ph) oversees the operation of a small school in Kabul, Afghanistan where groups of three Uighurs train in Islam and light weapons operations.

References

External links

• Spokesperson's remarks on the Death of Hasan Mahsum, Head of the "East Turkistan Islamic Movement
• al-Qaeda suspect identified
• Chinese terrorist killed by Pakistan Army
• China-Pakistan Military Exercises
• Uyghur Separatist Denies Links to Taliban, Al-Qaeda
• China's terror list and its implications