Posted on 09/26/2001 3:14:36 AM PDT by jwa3
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001330017-2001333354,00.html
FROM OLIVER AUGUST IN NORTHWESTERN CHINA
In the afternoon sunlight bathing the People's Square in Kashgar, northwestern China, several dozen Islamic prisoners were lined up on blue lorries, dazed and barely comprehending.
Standing under a 100ft granite statue of Chairman Mao, the handcuffed Islamic prisoners swayed gently, steadied by white-gloved policemen. Their eyes were bloodshot, their unfocused gaze testament to their confusion. They did not realise they would face the executioner within the hour. As a final insult to their faith, they had been fed alcohol with their last meal.
These men had apparently been captured fighting for an independent Islamic state in the predominantly Turkic province of Xinjiang. For many years separatists have been trying to prise the largely Muslim area from Beijing's grasp and establish a new nation, East Turkistan. The current confrontation between Afghanistan and the West has heightened Islamic fervour. Many local people sympathise with the Taleban and see little difference between the infidels in Beijing and Washington.
Elite troops loyal to Beijing have been posted here since last week, fearing a knock-on effect from Afghanistan. The crisis has also given China's leaders an opportunity to crack down on separatists with renewed ferocity. And yesterday Beijing government officials turned the sombre moments before an execution into a political rally.
Hundreds of Communist Party members seated in neat rows, with the lorries of Islamic prisoners arrayed before them, applauded a series of blood-curdling speeches quoting President Jiang Zemin. Ringed by banners, flags and propaganda pictures, the prisoners silently peered through their alcoholic haze.
The ghoulish spectacle lasted a full hour, blocking the city's main thoroughfare. Then, after a final rallying cry and a wail from a police siren, the lorry convoy started its grim journey. Thousands of onlookers lined Liberation Street, surging forward as the lorries sped past. Many laughed nervously when they came face-to-face with the prisoners heading to the execution ground. Only a few children, clutching their veiled mothersEhands, recoiled from the crowd.
The prisoners said nothing. Each had a large sign hung about the neck. Written in the local Turkic language, not in Chinese, the signs spelt out the men's crimes, including "disturbing public order" and other catch-all charges.
"Two of those prisoners will die now," a man wearing an embroidered cap said. "The rest will go back to prison."
At the main intersection near People's Square, the convoy split and most of the vehicles headed to the local police station next to the crumbling city wall.
I jumped into a taxi and followed the other half of the convoy, now down to one lorry, its cargo now the two condemned men, and a few police cars.
Crowds still lined the road miles away. Many onlookers were probably told by their bosses to attend the event in a move calculated by party officials to intimidate. The more frightened chickens, the better.
We passed several mosques in this ancient oasis city on the Silk Road. A petrol station attendant said: "This is not the first time I have seen one of these lorryloads."
The paved road lined with trees and mud huts was heading to the edge of the desert. Where the city finally ended, the lorry abruptly entered a military training ground.
Across the Kashgar desert the two condemned prisoners could take a last look at the mountain range dividing China and Afghanistan. Their hands were still tied behind their backs as they were led off the lorry.
I did not observe the moment of the execution but arriving shortly afterwards I spoke to an eye-witness.
"They got a bullet in the back of the neck," he said. "It was all over in just three minutes."
According to local custom, the bullet will be sent to the family of the deceased as a warning to future generations. </font face>
******************************************
Worth keeping in case the link disappears. Maybe we can pay the ChiComs for scalps after we encourage our businesses there to move their factories to India, Bangladesh and Thailand.
But I would have made them into RUMP RANGER'S with a Pin full of Horny Hogs and then:
1. Take pictures of them being Porkered,
2. Post in News Papers and on the Web,
3. Then Shoot them in the back of the head and send the pictures and bullet to the families afterwards!
PS - - - and Un-Vailed Women
But there is so many more that those Ass-Backward Fruit Cake Militant Bastards Hate than those or any that we can come up with and only God knows what they could be!!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.