Last week, 9 Uyghurs captured in Waziristan were extradited to China, according to The Daily Mail, a Pakistani newspaper. Pakistan’s Interior Ministry claims that the 9 Uyghurs were previously involved in attacks against security forces and various other terrorist activities. Journalists at Radio Free Asia interpret the move as a gesture of goodwill towards China, which to me is possible particularly as the move appears amidst increasing speculation that the Obama administration may permit the Guantanamo Uyghurs to come to America, something which would inevitably seen as a huge slight to, shall we say, the feelings of the Chinese government.
There is little information about who these Uyghurs are and what they did; according to Radio Free Asia, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has divulged nothing more than the detainee’s alleged participation in the abovementioned “activities.” The news, however, did spawn some interviews between Radio Free Asia journalists and Uyghurs living in Pakistan and Turkey, where various members of the Uyghur diaspora speculated that the Uyghurs may have been captured in “Operation Black Thunder,” a military offensive by the Pakistani military directed at Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas.
One Pakistani newspaper wrote that the captured Uyghurs had connections to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. The Turkistan Islamic Party, however, swiftly released a video just yesterday denying that the captured Uyghurs were members of their organization (which itself may or may not have connections to Al-Qaeda) and added further that no members of their organization have been captured and that, instead, Pakistan had apprehended, on China’s behalf, innocent businessmen and students studying in Lahore, the implication being that Pakistan has a dragnet out for Uyghur expatriates in case China needs to be appeased. The video ends with a threat of “real action” against any countries who extradite TIP members to China.
In contrast to previous material released by the Turkistan Islamic Party, the audio here is very crisp and the voice enunciated well, and so a transcription and translation is forthcoming.
Comments 5
My new word for the day – “Waziristan”. Thank you for that.
I saw that news last week in The Daily Mail and was surprised at how short the article was. Very little information. I do know that last month the Khunerjab Pass between Xinjiang and Pakistan was opened for tourist as a show of a new friendship between the two countries. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that Pakistan would give this “peace offering” (whether they are innocent or guilty) to China.
I’m curious to see if any news pops up in China about what actually happens to these nine. I look forward to your transcription and translation.
Posted 06 May 2009 at 12:09 pm ¶Very little coverage of this despite it being a huge international story. Pakistan’s central government has little authority in the FATA so rather curiously and indeed flying in the face of the US they suddenly find a bunch of “Uyghur militants” just when the US is releasing Uyghurs form guantanamo. My hunch is that this has little if anything to do with terrorism.
The article you link to does not mention waziristan, only the FATA of which waziristan is of course a part. Maybe it was mentioned elsewhere?
Look forward to the video translation! It would make sense to let a few native Uyghur speakers listen to it to check its authenticity as the videos released last year were dismissed as hoaxes by everyone except for the party and excitable journalists.
Posted 07 May 2009 at 8:30 pm ¶My bad, Thor’s Bear, I got that information from a Uyghur RFA article, here’s the link:
http://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/qisqa_xewerler/paksitan-xitay-uyghur-04282009005826.html
Posted 08 May 2009 at 4:10 am ¶thanks, i can’t read Uyghur but i’ll take your word for it!
Posted 08 May 2009 at 6:18 am ¶This is not the first time Pakistan has handed over Uyghurs. I have met Uyghurs who told me that while they loved General Zia they hated General Musharaf who they held responsible for handing over Uyghurs living in Pakistan to China.
Posted 09 May 2009 at 7:54 am ¶I wonder if someone could verify something for me has anyone seen pictres of the late General Zia-ul-Haq in any barber shop in Xinjiang?
Trackbacks & Pingbacks 2
[...] blogger at The New Dominion notes that while nine Uyghurs in Pakistan have been extradited to China, the fate of others at Guantanamo remains uncertain. Cancel this [...]
[...] (Türkistan Islam Partiyisi (TIP) تۈركىستان ئىسلام پارتىيىسى) responding to the news that 9 Uyghurs had been arrested in Pakistan and extradited to the PRC, apparently under accusation of belonging to the TIP. Below is a translation of that video. The [...]
Post a Comment