Abdul Haq al-Turkistani is a Uyghur Islamic militant who leads the

Turkistan Islamic Party The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) or the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other names, is a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Western China. Its stated goals ar ...

. The

United States Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

reported he took over leadership of the organization in 2003, following the death of its previous leader, and took a seat on

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

's ''

shura Shura ( ar, شُورَىٰ, translit=shūrā, lit=consultation) can for example take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other. Shura is mentioned as a praisewort ...

'' (central committee) in 2005.

Biography

In October 2008, Chinese security officials asserted that his real name is Memetiming Memeti (Uyghur: مۇھەممەتئىمىن مەمەت Memtimin Memet). They published half a dozen aliases. They reported he left China in March 1998, and became a trainer at a camp in a "South Asian country". The United Nations Security Council's 1267 Committee placed him on a list of individuals suspected of having ties to

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

. He was a member of al-Qaeda's leadership council. Uyghur detainees at Guantanamo bay "confessed" that they were trained by Abdul Haq and

Hassan Mahsum Hasan Mahsum (or Hassan Makhdum), also known as Abu-Muhammad al-Turkestani and Ashan Sumut, was the leader of the Islamic extremist group Turkistan Islamic Party and suspected of having ties with Al Qaeda. He was shot dead in a counter-terro ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Haq threatened terrorist attacks on the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. Al-Qaeda's command viewed Abdul Haq as authoritative and sent him to meet with Taliban factions along with al-Qaeda commanders. Abdul Haq faced allegations from the US Treasury Department that he was behind a bombing that preceded the Beijing Olympics. On 1 March 2010, Abdul Haq was reported to have been killed by a missile launched from an unmanned drone on 15 February 2010. It took place in North Waziristan's area of Mir Ali in Zor Babar Aidak town. However, in June 2014, it was reported that Abdul Haq was instead severely wounded, but recovered and resumed leadership in 2014.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haq, Abdul 1971 births Chinese Islamists Living people Turkistan Islamic Party Leaders of Islamic terror groups Chinese al-Qaeda members