Evidence shows Rebiya Kadeer behind Xinjiang riot: Govt

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-09 11:41

BEIJING: The separatist World Uyghur Congress led by Rebiya Kadeer was behind the deadly July 5 Xinjiang riot, in which at least 156 people died and more than 1000 were injured, sources with the government said.

Evidence showed the riot was organized. It was instigated and masterminded by the World Uyghur Congress led by Kadeer, the sources said.

The Congress used the June 26 factory brawl between Uygur and Han ethnic workers in Guangdong Province, in which two Uygurs died, to create chaos.

On July 1, the Congress held a special meeting, plotting to instigate unrest by sending messages via the Internet, telephones and mobile phones.

On July 4, some people inside the country began to send out a flood of online posts encouraging people to go to the Renmin Square in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to protest on July 5 to support separatists abroad.

At 1:06 am July 5, police in Urumqi were tipped off that some people were putting out illegal information calling for an illegal gathering at Renmin Square at 7 pm July 5.

According to recordings of calls, at 11 am July 5, Kadeer said, as she called her younger brother in Urumqi, "A lot of things have happened, and we all know something might happen in Urumqi tomorrow night."

On July 6, Kadeer held an emergency meeting with some senior members of the Congress to make plans to further stir up both domestic and overseas demonstrations and to call for intervention from foreign governments and human rights institutions.

Their schemes were immediately materialized in the attack on China's consulate in Munich, Germany, on Monday morning and the violence done by over 150 separatists in front of China's embassy in the Netherlands that afternoon.

All these facts pointed to Kadeer, whose personal experience bore further evidence of her splittist connection.

Kadeer was elected in 2006 to be the chairwoman of the Congress, which was founded in Munich in 2004.

The Congress, an organization alleging to represent the ultimate interests of East Turkestan people, is wholly dedicated to masterminding secessionist activities in the name of human rights and democracy, the government said.

Born in Xinjiang in 1951, Kadeer, a former businesswoman in China, made a fortune illegally from the 1980s on through tax evasion and fraud.

She was sentenced to an eight-year imprisonment in 2000 on charges of illegally disclosing state secrets, and was released on bail in 2005 to seek medical treatment in the United States.

She immediately got involved with overseas terrorists, separatists and extremists forces there, according to Wang Lequan, Communist Party chief of Xinjiang.

Kadeer once claimed the Congress would plot to sabotage activities marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China this year.

Touted as the "mother of Uygur people" by East Turkestan terrorists, Kadeer constantly visited Germany and other countries in northern Europe to build support.

"Kadeer's credentials got the recognition of overseas East Turkestan forces, and her experience is also an advantage to be capitalized on by Western anti-Chinese forces," said Ma Dazheng, director of the Xinjiang development research center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Pan Guang, an expert in international affairs and director of the Shanghai International Studies Center, said, "The East Turkestan terrorist forces portray Kadeer as a figure comparable to the Dalai Lama to promote her international influence."

"Actually, they just want to follow the road of the Dalai Lama to put the so-called Xinjiang issue into the international spotlight," he said.