Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS, June 17, 1997

Reuter, 6/17/97

Xinjiang authorities have called on Muslim clerics to help ensure stability in the restive northwestern region after seizing 11 tonnes of explosives in an anti-crime crackdown. Keyum Bawudun, the Communist Party's deputy secretary in Xinjiang, urged about 300 Muslim clerics to make contributions to the stability of the region, the Xinjiang Daily said in an edition seen in Beijing yesterday.

Xinjiang has been rocked repeatedly by anti-Chinese unrest in recent months.

_It is the unshirkable responsibility of clerics," the deputy secretary was quoted as saying.

_A majority of clerics are good, patriotic and for maintaining stability," he said, hinting that some religious leaders may sympathise with the independence movement.

He warned against religious fanaticism.

_We will resolutely and severely deal a blow to those who engage in illegal activities under the cloak of religion and the small group of people who develop religious extremist forces," he said.

Xinjiang has no single high-profile religious leader.

The call for clerics to help restore stability in the region came after Chinese authorities seized the 11 tonnes of explosives and uncovered 83 hideouts illegally selling firearms between March and May.

Authorities also seized 110,000 detonators, 638 illegal firearms and 10,000 rounds of ammunition.

In May, Chinese authorities executed eight people in the regional capital Urumqi for bombings, murders and robberies that left nine people dead.

The group planted home-made bombs on public buses that blew up within minutes of each other in Urumqi on February 25, killing nine people and injuring 58 others.

The attacks coincided with funeral rites in Beijing for Deng Xiaoping who died in February aged 92.

The group planted two other bombs which did not explode.

Exiled separatists of the ethnic Uygur minority have claimed responsibility for the assaults and vowed to stage more until they gain freedom for their homeland.

Uygur militants want to set up an independent East Turkestan in Xinjiang.

In April, a self-taught expert on the Koran was executed for bombing a military vehicle last year.