- Hasan Mahsum
Chinese
s=艾山·买合苏木
t=艾山·買合蘇木
p=Àishān Măihésūmù
uig=ھەسەن مەخسۇم
Hesen MexsumInfobox Person
name =Hasan Mahsum
birth_date =1964
birth_place=Shule County ,Kashgar ,Xinjiang
death_date =death date|2003|10|2|mf=y
death_place=South Waziristan
occupation =
spouse =Hasan Mahsum, also known as Abu-Muhammad al-Turkestani and Ashan Sumut, was the founder and leader of the
East Turkestan Islamic Movement , considered an Islamic terrorist organization by China and the US and suspected of having ties with Al Qaeda. He was shot dead in a counter-terrorism operation onOctober 2 ,2003 by thePakistani Army .cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3343241.stm|title=Chinese militant "shot dead"|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2007-01-27|date=2003-12-23]Political activities
Mahsum, a native of Shule (Kunixar) County, became involved with the
East Turkestan independence movement early in his life; in his late 20s, he was already a lecturer at a training camp inYecheng County , preachingJihad and advocating the use of violence against Chinese authorities.cite journal|last=Sichor|first=Yitzhak|title=Fact and Fiction: A Chinese Documentary on Eastern Turkestan Terrorism|volume=4|issue=2|date=2006|pages=pp.89–108|journal=China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly|publisher=Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program|accessdate=2006-12-15|url=http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/CEF/Quarterly/May_2006/Shichor.pdf] He was arrested in October 1993 by the Chinese police for terrorist activities and sentenced to three years of re-education through labour.cite news|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200312/25/eng20031225_131190.shtml|date=2003 -12-25 |accessdate=2006-12-15|title=FM spokesman confirms death of wanted terrorist|publisher=People's Daily] After fleeing China in 1997, Mahsum lived in Afghanistan and Pakistan; he held an Afghan passport issued by theTaliban . In early 1999, he was said to have met withOsama bin Laden , who offered him US$300,000 of financial assistance for the East Turkestan Islamic Movement in the following year;cite paper|author=Raman. B|url=http://www.saag.org/papers13/paper1232.html|title=Paper no. 1232: Explosions in Xinjiang|date=2005-01-27|accessdate=2006-12-15|publisher=South Asia Analysis Group] Mahsum himself denied any connection with bin Laden.cite paper|author=Mackerras, Colin|title=Ethnicity in China: The Case of Xinjiang|url=http://www4.ncsu.edu/~dnschmid/mackerras.htm|publisher=Harvard Asia Quarterly|date=Winter 2004|accessdate=2006-12-15] The Chinese government has accused him of directing a series of violent terrorist activities including robbery and murder inUrumqi onFebruary 4 ,1999 and violent murders in theKhotan region onDecember 14 ,1999 ;cite press release|title=Spokesperson's remarks on the Death of Hasan Mahsum, Head of the "East Turkistan Islamic Movement"|url=http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/fyrth/t57039.htm|publisher=Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America|date=2003-10-24|accessdate=2006-12-15] it is believed that these attacks were actually carried out by an operative of his named Mutalif Kasim.Death
Chinese, Pakistani, and US officials confirm that Mahsum was shot dead in an early-morning raid on a suspected
al-Qaeda training camp by thePakistan Army inSouth Waziristan , near the Afghan border, onOctober 2 ,2003 .cite news|title=Pakistan Army Kills 12 In Offensive Against Al-Qaida|date=2003-10-02|publisher=Dow Jones International News|accessdate=2006-12-15] The Pakistani army attacked an al-Qaeda hideout inSouth Waziristan near the border withAfghanistan on 2 October 2003, shooting and killing eight terrorists, including Mahsum. The "Beijing News " and "International Herald Leader " initially reported that the United States worked with Pakistan in a joint counter-terrorism operation, but Major General Shaukat Sultan, a spokesman for the Pakistani military, denied U.S. military involvement. Sultan said "DNA tests were conducted to determine it was him." The Chinese government assisted in identifying his body.References
External links
* [http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/CEF/Quarterly/May_2006/Shichor.pdf Fact and Fiction: A Chinese Documentary on Eastern Turkestan Terrorism]
* [http://www.saag.org/papers13/paper1232.html Paper no. 1232: Explosions in Xinjiang]
* [http://www4.ncsu.edu/~dnschmid/mackerras.htm Ethnicity in China: The Case of Xinjiang]
* [http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/fyrth/t57039.htm Spokesperson's remarks on the Death of Hasan Mahsum, Head of the "East Turkistan Islamic Movement]
* [http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/fyrth/t57039.htm Spokesperson's remarks on the Death of Hasan Mahsum, Head of the " East Turkistan Islamic Movement"]
* [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/25/1074965420892.html al-Qaeda suspect identified]
* [http://www.hindu.com/2003/12/26/stories/2003122600891500.htm Chinese terrorist killed by Pakistan Army]
* [http://china.notspecial.org/archives/2006/12/chinapakistan_m.html China-Pakistan Military Exercises]
* [http://www.rfa.org/english/news/politics/2002/01/27/85871/ Uyghur Separatist Denies Links to Taliban, Al-Qaeda]
* [http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?p=Hasan+Mahsum&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-501&u=www.observerindia.com/analysis/A084.htm&w=hasan+mahsum&d=As-YREVuN2Yn&icp=1&.intl=us China's terror list and its implications]
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