Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS, May 9, 1997

Hong Kong AFP, 05/05/97

Beijing, May 5 (AFP) - Authorities in the far northwestern Chinese

region of Xinjiang claimed they were winning the battle against

separatists but warned that their adversaries still had the means of

stirring up further ethnic strife.

Communist party leaders in the region said they had "legally resolved

the affair over the terrorist bomb explosions," which killed nine

people and wounded 74 others at the end of February in regional capital

Urumqi, the Xinjiang Daily [Xinjiang Ribao] received here Monday said.

Official sources said that "almost all" the suspects behind three bomb

blasts that terrorised Urumqi residents were arrested a few days after

the incident.

"It is a big victory for political stability" in Xinjiang, the

Communist leaders were quoted as saying. The daily, however, warned

that the separatists had not been beaten yet. "Due to the international

situation and a series of internal factors, the fight between

separatists and anti-separatists has become intense, with our enemies

exploiting .. [ellipses as received] inter-ethnic hatred," they said.

"We must recognise that separatism and religious fundamentalism are

carried out by the same people," regional Communist party chief Wang

Lequan said.

Xinjiang has been wracked by violence in recent months with battles

between ethnic Uygur militants and Chinese security forces leaving 10

dead in Yining town, official sources said.

In April, police opened fire on hundreds of young Uygurs who were

trying to liberate some of their colleagues who had been sentenced to

long prison terms after the February unrest. Two people were killed in

the firings.