Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS July 23,1997

Agence France-Presse, 7/3/97 (South China Morning Post)

A top Xinjiang official has called on the population to "exterminate" what he called the scourge of separatism. Amudun Niyaz, chairman of the Xinjiang

People's Congress, said: "The struggle against separatism is an absolute must and we should carry it out in the way we deal with the cotton scourge." Mr Niyaz was referring to the cotton worms which destroyed crops in recent years in the province, China's principal cotton-supplier.

"Men, women, the old and the young should join in this struggle to root out separatism, the scourge of the nation," he told cadres in Kashgar, a Muslim separatist stronghold.

Mr Niyaz's comments were reported in the Xinjiang Daily.

Xinjiang has been rocked by a series of violent clashes in recent months between its majority Muslim Uygur population and Han Chinese settlers, officials and security forces.

In February, separatists planted several bombs in Urumqi and the border city of Yining, killing at least nine people.