The East Turkistan Liberation Organization (ETLO) is one of several ethnic Uyghur groups operating in central Asia and the Chinese province of Xinjiang.  The Uyghurs, Muslims of Turkic descent, have had a tumultuous history with successive Chinese dynasties and governments.  Although the Uyghurs have at times enjoyed autonomy and freedom of religion, their relationship to the current Communist regime in China has been rife with conflict.  The ETLO is suspected to be an ally of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), an organization dedicated to the foundation of an Islamic State in Xinjiang.  Although East Turkistan technically refers to the Chinese province of Xinjiang, some believe that these Uyghur militants are seeking to create a state that includes parts of Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Pakistan in addition to Xinjiang. <P> <br /><br />Russia and China have blamed the ETLO for several small attacks in both China and Central Asia, as well as the assassination of the First Secretary of the Chinese Embassy and a Uyghur Kyrgyz citizen, in Bishek, Kyrgyzstan.  However, Kyrgyz authorities disagreed, stating that the primary target of the attack may have been the Uyghur businessman the diplomat was traveling with. It is still possible that the attack was committed by Uyghur or other Islamic militants, but definitive group attribution is very difficult. Many analysts claim that Russian and Chinese authorities exaggerate the potency of the Uyghur groups to justify their repressive "counter-terror" policies. According to the State Department, the ETLO is responsible for a series of small politically-motivated bombings and armed attacks.  In a radio interview, the leader of the ETLO claimed that a military wing was necessary to show people that his organization was serious. The ETLO has also been implicated in many small-scale attacks by non-Chinese and non-Russian sources, including Turkish and Kyrgyz authorities, who have nothing to gain by assigning responsibility to ETLO. China has called for the ETLO to be designated a terrorist organization by the United States and UN.<br />