April 23, 2004

BEIJING - US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Robert Mueller said yesterday China is home to Islamic fundamentalists who may want to further their ideological agenda by staging terror attacks.

Speaking in Beijing, Mr Mueller did not elaborate on whether new terrorist groups had been identified or whether there was any sign of Al-Qaeda activity in China.
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While China is not known to have been targeted by international terrorist groups, he cautioned against complacency.

'Just because you have not seen substantial terrorist attacks in China does not mean that there could not be one in the future or in other countries in Asia,' he said.

Beijing has long contended that its predominantly Muslim Xinjiang region in the north-west has been a breeding ground for terrorists and violent separatists, although officials have provided little evidence.

However, Mr Mueller said terrorists included a 'wide variety of individuals who may, to a greater or lesser degree, subscribe to extremist Islamic fundamentalism'.

'There certainly are individuals in China who could be described as having that same mindset as well as that desire to utilise terrorist acts to further their agenda,' he told reporters at a news conference. -- AP

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