Mom told me to set myself on fire, son says

• Source: Global Times
• [02:13 August 05 2009]
• Comments

Kadeer, however, questioned the willingness of her relatives to participate in the interviews, according to Dilxat Raxit, WUC spokesperson.

“They are forced to act as propaganda tools and their words are completely against their will. Kadeer felt heart-struck for their situation under heavy pressure,” Dilxat said in a telephone interview with the Global Times yesterday.

Raxit said Kadeer called her brother, Memet, on July 5 after learning that riots occurred in Urumqi, saying it was the only contact with her relatives in Xinjiang since the incident happened.

But Khahar gave the opposite account. “Before the riot when she (Kadeer) called from the United States, I tried several times to persuade her not to harm ethnic harmony here or try to separate the country. She didn’t take my words seriously,” he said.

“Kadeer warned them in the phone call not to leave their home or join any protesting activities, for fear that they might get in trouble with the government,” Raxit said.

Calls to Kadeer’s home in Washington, DC, according to a contact number provided by Raxit, went unanswered yesterday.

Kadeer is in Australia on a 10-day trip for the Melbourne International Film Festival, to present a documentary about her life. Roxingul, Kadeer’s daughter, confirmed to Xinhua that she was one of the letter writers.

“I am one of those who wrote the letter. As one of her children, it seems that we have to share some responsibility for her (separatist) acts,” Roxingul was quoted as saying.

Having blood relations with Kadeer does not mean she “gets along very well” with many local people, Roxingul said.

“At first I was afraid people would hate me very much,” she said.

But she said that colleagues at a local school where she works have been very kind to her. “I feel like I’m living in a big family of different ethnic people,” she said.

The WUC, led by Kadeer, was believed by the Chinese government to have masterminded the July 5 Xinjiang riots.

Riot police could be seen around the community where Khahar lives off the Shanxixiang road in Urumqi. At least six armed police officers were on guard close to the entrance of the apartment building.

Access was not intervened, the Global Times found yesterday. However, nobody answered the door of Khahar’s home on the 12th floor.

Kang Juan and Guo Qiang contributed to this story