Kyrgystan murder raises Beijing concerns

(CNN) -- Beijing has boosted consultation with several central Asian states to prevent Uighurs trained by terrorist organizations from returning to, or infiltrating, China's Xinjiang autonomous region.

The murder of a Chinese consul and his driver in Kyrgyzstan has raised Beijing's concerns about the safety of Chinese diplomats, businessmen and technicians based in countries including Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Turkemistan.

Kyrgyz authorities have arrested three suspects of the murders committed last weekend.

The official China News Service quoted security officials in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, as saying two of the three were Uighurs with Chinese nationality.

Russian papers and websites have reported that the trio belonged to an underground, pro-independence Uighur cell in Xinjiang called Free Turkistan.

Diplomatic sources in Beijing said while the Chinese leadership was concerned about the safety of its nationals living in central Asia, the latter were a relatively small group.

The sources said Beijing was much more worried about Uighurs who had been trained by groups such as al Qaeda and the Taliban, returning to or infiltrating Xinjiang.

There are an estimated 48,000 Uighurs in Kyzgyzstan, including a small but dedicated group from Xinjiang who had undergone combat training in Afghanistan.

Crackdown

Immediately after September 11, Chinese soldiers and officers from the People's Armed Police launched a largely successful "crack hard" operation to detain and neutralize underground Uighur activists in Xinjiang.

Efforts have also made to seal off the border between Xinjiang on the one hand, and Afghanistan and several Central Asian states on the other.

However, Western diplomats said Beijing was not confident it could prevent Xinjiang-originated -- as well as central-Asian -- Uighurs who had undergone terrorist training from returning to or infiltrating Xinjiang.

They said Beijing needed closer cooperation with the governments of Kyrgzystan and neighboring states.

However, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization -- grouping China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyzgyzstan -- one of whose major goals is to fight terrorism and separatist movements, has not lived up to Beijing's expectations.

It is understood that at the summit of the SCO heads of states held last month in St Petersburg, Jiang was unable to get a firm commitment from his colleagues on upgrading joint efforts against the Uighurs.

One reason cited by Beijing-based Chinese strategists was that SCO members such as Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan had exhibited a policy tilt toward the U.S. after the latter had agreed to provide them with substantial economic aid.