Six Uygurs have been sentenced to death or life imprisonment for secessionist activities in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.

They were convicted of engaging in "separatist activities", "training at a terrorist camp" and "illegally making explosives" by the intermediate people's court of Kashgar last Thursday.

The six people were believed to be members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which the UN listed as a terrorist organization.

Two were sentenced to death, two received death sentences with two years' reprieve and the other two were jailed for life.

The court heard that the six had engaged in a series of secessionist activities from August 2005 until this January, when they were arrested.

Together, they planned, led and organized a terrorist camp and led two missions aimed at securing explosives.

They made 67 grenades and two bombs that could be used for suicide attacks with the 16 kg of explosives they had acquired, Xinhua reported.

(China Daily November 12, 2007)