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KAZAKHSTAN DAILY DIGEST
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From: Elina Karakulova (ekarakulova@sorosny.org)
Date: Mon Jul 14 2003 - 15:20:42 EDT
KAZAKH SECURITY CHIEF FOCUSES ON UIGHUR SEPARATISTS
National Security Committee Chairman Nurtai Dutbaev told journalists in Astana on 11 July that his agency is concerned that Uighur separatist organizations in Kazakhstan might turn to terrorism to achieve their aims, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. Dutbaev asserted that some young Uighurs living in Kazakhstan are convinced that the only way to achieve their goal of an independent Uighur state in what is now the Chinese province of Xinjiang is through violence. A branch of the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Party, which is considered a terrorist organization in China, was raided by Kazakh security officers in May, according to Dutbaev. He said the group was headed by citizens of Kazakhstan. Three alleged group members were arrested, and weapons and explosives were confiscated. In recent months, Chinese security officials have warned that Uighur separatists are adopting terrorist tactics. The security chief said a number of members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan -- which is widely considered to be a terrorist organization because of its use of violence in seeking to overthrow the secular Uzbek government and its ties to the former Afghan Taliban regime and the Al-Qaeda terrorist network -- have been found living in Kazakhstan with forged documents. BB
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