The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday confirmed the death of
Hasan Mahsum, head of the terrorist group "the Eastern Turkistan
Islamic Movement."
Husan Mahsum was shot dead by the Pakistani army on Oct. 2 in a
joint anti-terror raid along the border of Pakistan and
Afghanistan, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.
Hasan Mahsum was born in 1964 in China's Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region. He was arrested in October 1993 by Chinese
police for terrorist activities and spent three years in a labor
camp. He fled overseas in 1997 and since then he had been in
Afghanistan training terrorists.
According to Liu, Hasan Mahsum plotted a series of violent
terrorist activities in recent years, including robbery and murder
in Xinjiang's capital city of Urumqi and violent murders in
Xinjiang's Hotan region, causing heavy loss of lives and
property.
The FM spokesman said Hasan Hahsum's death was a result of the
international anti-terror cooperation and the Chinese government
will continue to work with the international community to fight
terrorism.
(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2003)