China
executed 13 people today for “terrorist attacks” in the far western
region of
Xinjiang, state media said, while a further three were
sentenced to death for staging a lethal attack in Tiananmen Square in
Beijing.
“The 13
criminals had planned violent terrorist attacks and ruthlessly killed
police officers, government officials and civilians, which took innocent
lives, caused huge property losses and seriously endangered public
security,” the official news agency Xinhua said.
Xinjiang
is the traditional home of Muslim Uighurs who speak a Turkic language,
and China has blamed previous attacks on Islamist separatists it says
seek to establish an independent state there called East Turkestan.
Exiled
Uighur groups and human rights activists say the government’s own
repressive policies in Xinjiang have provoked unrest, something Beijing
denies.
The 13
executed men were involved in attacks in different parts of Xinjiang,
including one last June that killed 24 policemen and local residents,
Xinhua said.
In the
Tiananmen case, five people were killed and 40 hurt when a car ploughed
into a crowd in the square and burst into flames. Those killed included
three people in the car.
CULLED FROM : http://www.jewsnews.co.il/
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