China Sacks Top Military Officer Over Xinjiang Blast

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From: Mavlan Yasin <MYasin@UniversalCare.com>
China Sacks Top Military Officer Over Xinjiang Blast
BEIJING, Nov 2, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) China has dismissed the top
military officer in the northwestern Xinjiang region and punished several
others over an explosion that claimed 67 lives, state media reported on
Thursday.
Lieutenant General Li Lianghui, commander of the Xinjiang Military Area
Command, lost his job after investigators sifted through evidence from the
September 8 blast, the People's Daily website said.
Shortly after the blast erupted in Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi, government
officials and media rushed to say it was caused by a vehicle transporting
explosives hitting a bumpy road.
Xinjiang is home to several restive Muslim minorities, and initial
speculation, vigorously denied by the government, was that the blast might
have been a terrorist act.
The website on Thursday said investigators had concluded the blast was
accidental and did not specify why Li had been fired.
But it said the central government had decided to deal with the case
severely after it attracted widespread attention from local and foreign
media.
Li has been replaced with Qiu Yanhan, a ranking officer from the military
command in northern Shaanxi province.
Another official dismissed over the incident is Lieutenant General Zhou
Yongshun, the highest-ranking political commissar in Xinjiang, the website
said.
Zhou is also listed in government publications as a member of the standing
committee of the Xinjiang communist party.
Between 10 and 20 other military officials in Xinjiang have been
disciplined, and several are facing court trials, according to the website.
((c) 2000 Agence France Presse)