China steps up campaign against exiled Uighur

[August 03, 2009]  BEIJING (AP) -- China stepped up its campaign against exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer on Monday with the release of a letter it says was penned by close relatives in China blaming her for last month's deadly riots in her native Xinjiang.

A friend and associate of Kadeer based in Germany said the letter was fake.

A day earlier, Xinjiang police announced they had detained another 319 people suspected of being involved in the deadly ethnic unrest in Urumqi between Muslim minority Uighurs and the dominant Han Chinese community last month, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

At least 1,600 people were detained shortly after the July 5 riots that erupted when police stopped a protest by the Turkic-speaking Uighurs. The Uighurs smashed windows, burned cars and attacked Han Chinese. Two days later, the Han took to the streets and staged retaliatory attacks.

The fighting was China's worst ethnic violence in decades. The government says 197 people were killed and more than 1,700 were injured in the violence and that most of the victims were Han Chinese.

China has repeatedly blamed outside agitators and the influence of the "three evil forces" -- extremism, terrorism and separatism -- but have provided little evidence. Specifically, it has blamed Kadeer, an exiled Uighur activist based in Washington, for instigating the protests. Kadeer denies the allegations.

Once a prominent businesswoman, Kadeer served six years in a Chinese prison on charges of endangering state security before going into exile in the United States in 2005.

Xinhua released two letters allegedly signed by 12 of her close relatives still in China, including a younger brother and two of her children. One was an apology to the victims of the riot. The other, to Kadeer, begins "Dear Mama," and accuses her of being behind the violence in Xinjiang's capital.

"Because of you, so many innocent people lost their lives in Urumqi on July 5, and so many houses, shops and vehicles were burnt or damaged," Xinhua quoted the letter as saying.

There was no way to immediately confirm if the letter was written by Kadeer's family.

Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the pro-independence World Uyghur Congress based in Germany, said Kadeer's family members did not write the letter or were forced to do it against their will.

Kadeer is president of the World Uyghur Congress, as well as the U.S.-based Uyghur American Association.

"Her family could not have charged her with doing anything like this," he said. "I understand their situation and I can tell you that this letter is fake."

Kadeer's relatives inside China have had a host of legal trouble in recent years -- problems seen by some as reprisals against the activist.

In 2007, one of her sons was jailed for nine years on subversion charges, and two others were convicted of tax evasion a year earlier.

The letter also accuses Kadeer of being ignorant of the current situation in Xinjiang, where government policies have resulted in "many Uighur millionaires and countless new buildings."

"You have no idea how much Xinjiang has changed," said the letter dated July 24. "People are living a good life here. There are no differences between ethnic groups so long as you're willing to work hard."

Uighurs have complained about an influx of Han Chinese and government restrictions on their Muslim religion. They accuse the Han of discrimination and the Communist Party of trying to erase their language and culture. Han Chinese, many of whom were encouraged to emigrate to the region by the government, believe the Uighurs should be grateful for Xinjiang's rapid economic development.

Last week in Japan, Kadeer made a plea for Tokyo to urge Beijing to allow a U.N.-led team to investigate the riots and to try to mediate a dialogue between the Uighurs and the government.

The 62-year-old activist is to visit Australia later this week to attend a screening of a documentary about her life at the Melbourne International Film Festival. She also is scheduled to address the National Press Club in Canberra in a nationally televised speech on Aug. 11.

Meanwhile, a message purportedly from the leader of an Islamic group fighting Chinese rule in Xinjiang was posted online Sunday, urging Muslims worldwide to attack Chinese interests in retaliation for what it called the oppression of the Uighurs.

The authenticity of the audio recording by Sheik Abdul Haq al-Turkistani could not be independently verified.

"They (Chinese) must be attacked inside and outside," the message said. "Their embassies, consulates and places where they meet should be targeted to kill their men and capture them to exchange them for our prisoners in Eastern Turkistan." Separatist Uighurs refer to Xinjiang as Eastern Turkistan.

[Associated Press; By ALEXA OLESEN]

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