CHINA SENTENCES EIGHT TO DEATH FOR KNIFE, BOMB ATTACKS IN RESTIVE XINJIANG

December 8, 2014: China sentenced eight people to death for their roles in two knife and bomb attacks this spring in the country's violence-plagued western region of Xinjiang, state media reported.
The government has blamed a series of attacks in other parts of China, including Beijing, on Islamist militants from Xinjiang.
In April, a knife and bomb attack at a train station in the region's capital of Urumqi killed three and injured 79. In May, 39 people at a Urumqi market were killed when attackers hurled explosives out of the windows of two SUVs.
Five others were given a sentence of "suspended death", which in China usually means life in prison. Four others were given lesser prison sentences, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The people involved in the April attack were under the command of a member of the banned East Turkestan Islamic Movement who has since fled China, the report said.
The group gathered to watch and listen to extremist material, carried out test explosions and had also plotted to go abroad, Xinhua added. (Sources: Reuters, 08/12/2014)