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| Central Asia | |
| Kyrgyzstan bans 4 terror groups | |
| 2003-11-21 | |
| Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court has banned four groups branded as terrorist and extremist, some of them allegedly connected to the al-Qaida terror network and its allies, officials said Thursday. Prosecutors in April had requested the ban, saying such extremist groups were ``the main threat’’ to Kyrgyzstan’s national security, and that they had been seeking to strengthen their ranks across Central Asia. Sounds about right. The ban allows law enforcement officials to confiscate the groups’ property. ``Law enforcement agencies are taking measures to prevent the further spread of extremist movements advocating political and religious extremism, nationalistic and radical Islamic fundamentalism,’’ the chief prosecutor’s office said in a statement. Banned as terrorist groups were the Organization for the Liberation of Turkestan, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and the Islamic Party of Turkestan - all linked to China’s Turkic Muslim Uighur minority. I think that the ETIM is main wing that’s connected to al-Qaeda and that the other two are semi-legitimate front organizations. Still doesn’t justify what China has done to the Uighurs, but krazed killers are still krazed killers. The fourth banned group was Hizb ut-Tahrir, or Islamic Liberation Party, labeled by the court as an extremist movement. That fundamentalist group, which seeks to establish an Islamic state in Central Asia, has not been linked to any previous attacks in the restive region. It has, however, faced harsh persecution by the authorities, particularly in Uzbekistan, where thousands of observant Muslims who allegedly sympathize with the party have been jailed. My guess is that HuT, at least in Central Asia, is acting as a front organization for the more militant jihadi factions. Earlier this week, Kyrgyzstan’s security chief said al-Qaida and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a terror group that cooperated with al-Qaida in Afghanistan, were recruiting followers from Hizb ut-Tahrir. And that would be why ... The IMU allegedly ordered two explosions that killed eight people over the past year in Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz security officials have said that an unspecified Uighur separatist group helped the attackers obtain false passports. The IMU also is blamed for incursions in Uzbekistan and neighboring Kyrgyzstan in 1999 and 2000 and several hostage-takings. On Thursday, Kazakhstan handed over to Uzbekistan two Uzbek nationals suspected of belonging to the IMU, Kazakh security officials said. Azamat Iskandarov and Khaydar Makhmudov, both 24, were detained by Kazakh security officers in July, the Kazakh National Security Committee said. The Kazakh intelligence agency said the two had undergone training at terrorist camps in Tajikistan and Afghanistan and fought with the Taliban against Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance. The alliance backed the U.S.-led coalition that ousted the hard-line Taliban regime in late 2001. The two men came to Kazakhstan in July using false documents, officials said.
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| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Kyrgystan is an interesting slice of the world - having both US and Russian military bases. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-11-21 5:52:08 PM |