By Natalia Antelava BBC Central Asia correspondent

On a rainy afternoon, in a village near the Kazakh-Chinese border, an engagement party brought two families together.

Uighur traditions are being kept alive, but for how long?

Women in colourful traditional dresses brought out dishes of meat and rice.

As the feast went on, guests toasted the new family and the future, but the songs they sang were about the past, and the land their ancestors had lost to China.

Uighurs, who are ethnically Turkic Muslims, share a history in which victims outnumber heroes, and stories of persecution overshadow tales of greatness.

For centuries, Uighurs fought the Chinese over the land they call Eastern Turkistan. But on the map it is called Xinjiang, and it lies in the north of China.

Over the past 200 years, millions of Uighurs fled wars and persecution and settled in Central Asia, but they never gave up the dream of their own land.

And that is a problem for Beijing. As some Uighurs continue to call for greater autonomy from China, Beijing says that their separatism is breeding terrorism.

Khader's story

Terrified to be discovered by the Kazakh authorities, Khader, an asylum seeker from China, agreed to meet us in a secret location.

In a dimly-lit room, Khader and his friends showed us piles of paperwork - thick files of dozens of asylum seekers, with black and white photographs of men and women attached.

CHINA'S UIGHURS Ethnically Turkic Muslims, mainly living in Xinjiang Made bid for independent state in 1940s Sporadic violence in Xinjiang since 1991

Some of them, they said, had been already deported to China, where many had been executed.

Khader's dark, restless eyes were full of deep and disturbing fear, but his voice was measured and calm as he spoke about his experiences in China.

"They never leave us alone. You go out in the street, you go to a market, and police just beat you. I grew up hearing the stories of my neighbours and family members being tortured in the Chinese prisons," he said.

"They call us all terrorists, but what makes us terrorists? Just the fact that we are Uighurs?"

Ten years ago, Khader attended a demonstration in his home town just across the border from Kazakhstan. The rally, which called for more rights for China's Uighur minority, was quickly broken up by the government.

Chinese soldiers, he said, killed his brother and chased him as he ran across the border.

Ever since then, Khader has been hiding in Kazakhstan. For a decade, he has survived with the help of the local Uighur community. But he has no passport, no identity documents and he has been unable to find a job or attain a refugee status.

The only dubious assurance of security he has is a $100 bill that he always carries in his pocket.

"This is what I give to the local police when they stop me. One day, when I can't bribe my way out, the worst can happen."

The worst, he says, is deportation.

"I am not a terrorist, I am just a baker, but if I am sent back I will be killed - I will be hanged or shot," Khader said.

Disappearing haven

There are dozens of people like Khader hiding in Kazakhstan, many more across wider Central Asia.

Human rights groups are calling on the Kazakh government not to deport the Uighurs to China, but amid increasing co-operation between China and Kazakhstan, their message is getting lost.

Co-operation is rising along this border - bad news for Uighurs

"Both the Chinese and the Kazakh authorities simply prefer not to turn this into a public problem. But the question is, what to do with these people who are hiding here, unable to get asylum? And there are women and children among them," Yevgeny Zhovtis, the country's leading human rights defender, said.

"At this point, I see no exit, no solution to this situation, because Kazakhstani authorities simply don't want to spoil their relationship with China."

Beijing is an increasingly important investor in Kazakhstan. It also wants Kazakhstan's help in fighting what the Chinese government calls its own "war on terror" in Xinjiang.

According to the Chinese embassy spokesperson in Kazakhstan, China does not need to be told what to do.

"Only we, the Chinese, know what is going on inside our country. We don't want the outside world to interfere. The Chinese government is working for the happiness and well-being of all Chinese," Wang Bing said.

Back in the village near the Kazakh-Chinese border, as night falls, hundreds of people pack a dilapidated village concert hall. The show, a display of traditional Uighur dance, is about to begin.

Young and old, women and men, watch mesmerised as girls in long purple dresses take to the stage. They sway and swirl to the haunting tunes of the traditional lute.

For generations, Uighurs have been free to perform here. Central Asia is where they have nursed their dream of independence.

But China is now gaining control, and Uighurs are losing their safe haven.

By Quentin Sommerville BBC News, Xinjiang

Xinjiang's Uighurs fear they are being left out

The young men studying at the Islam College in Urumqi, near China's western border, sit ramrod straight listening intently to their teacher.

Most hope one day to become imams in the many mosques of the Muslim-dominated Chinese region of Xinjiang.

"I believe in Islam, I came here to deepen my faith, to learn more," said 24-year-old, Bolo Alashankur.

"I learnt about Islam at home, from my family, but now I've come to the college for formal training," he said.

But learning about Islam is difficult here. Almost 2,000 miles from the capital, Beijing, the curriculum of the Islam College must be approved by the ruling Communist Party. Imams must attend political education camps - the authorities even dictate which version of the Koran should be used.

CHINA'S UIGHURS Ethnically Turkic Muslims, mainly in Xinjiang Made bid for independent state in 1940s Sporadic violence in Xinjiang since 1991 Uighurs worried about Chinese immigration and erosion of traditional culture

Human rights groups accuse China of conducting a campaign of repression against its Muslim minority, especially in Xinjiang. Despite a promise of religious freedom guaranteed in the constitution, in practical terms, few are at liberty to practise their faith as they would like.

China's war on terror is concentrated on Xinjiang. The province borders eight separate countries. Foreign fighters, including members of the Taliban, have been captured here.

At a press conference, Communist Party boss Wang Lequan warned that the province was under attack.

"In Xinjiang the separatists, religious extremists and violent terrorists are all around us - they're very active. We deal with these criminals using the law. In China, endangering national security is the number one crime. We have to crack down on it severely," he said.

Excuse

But others have accused China of muddying the waters between religious extremism and religious freedom. The authorities are just as worried about the threat from within as from outside.

"Fear is definitely pervasive in Xinjiang," said Nicolas Becquelin of pressure group Human Rights in China.

"People from the Uighur community are very much at risk of being arrested, detained, tortured or sentenced to labour camps for anything the government equates to separatist feelings, or for holding religious activities," he said.

Uighurs are doing anything they can to make a living - there's no alternative Anonymous Uighur

At the central mosque in Urumqi, the sights and sounds are not entirely Muslim. The old mosque was knocked down a few years ago and replaced by a handsome brick building. But when it was rebuilt, it came with the addition of a shopping mall. Now the faithful pray above a KFC and next to a Carrefour supermarket.

Those around the mosque are afraid to speak. Uighur men and women have been imprisoned for simply speaking to foreign journalists.

The BBC was monitored by undercover policemen for most of our time in Xinjiang. We slipped away briefly and spoke to a Uighur who was unhappy about the redevelopment.

"It really isn't appropriate," he said. "We come here to worship - but sometimes we can't hear our prayers because of the music and singing from the bazaar."

Life is difficult for Muslims in Xinjiang, he said, warning that he could get into trouble for speaking to the BBC.

"It's getting more and more difficult for us to earn money now. Uighurs are doing anything they can to make a living - there's no alternative," he said.

China wants to focus on the smiles

Northern Xinjiang is rich and fertile, and it has oil. But Uighurs enjoy little of its riches, especially since China has flooded the province with Han Chinese. In 1950 Uighurs were 94% of the population - they are now less than half.

This ethic dilution is denied by officials such as Yahfu Wumar, director of Urumqi's Religious and Ethnics Affairs Committee.

"There's very little difference in the ethnic balance between now and the early 1950s," he said.

"The central government established the "Go West" policy to bridge the economic gap between east and west China. It has brought entrepreneurs here - but it certainly isn't an issue of moving Han people to Xinjiang," he said.

One of the few places where Uighur culture is celebrated in Urumqi is at a folk performance for tourists. But it is another fabrication - the gaudy costumes include glittering cowboy hats and most of the songs are sung in Chinese, not Uighur.

Beijing says its priority is to stop religious extremism and terrorism in this far-off province.

The crackdown is done in the name of counter-terrorism, the report says

It is being done in the name of anti-separatism and counter-terrorism, says a joint report by Human Rights Watch and Human Rights in China.

It is said to be taking place in the western Xinjiang region, where more than half the population is Uighur.

China has denied that it suppresses Islam in Xinjiang.

It says it only wants to stop the forces of separatism, terrorism and religious extremism in the region, which Uighur separatists call East Turkestan.

Detentions and executions

The report accuses China of "opportunistically using the post-11 September environment to make the outrageous claim that individuals disseminating peaceful religious and cultural messages in Xinjiang are terrorists who have simply changed tactics".

CHINA'S UIGHURS Ethnically Turkic Muslims, mainly in Xinjiang Made bid for independent state in 1940s Sporadic violence in Xinjiang since 1991 Uighurs worried about Chinese immigration and erosion of traditional culture

The authors of the report say it is based on previously undisclosed Communist Party and Chinese government documents, local regulations, press reports and local interviews.

The report says the systematic repression of religion in Xinjiang was continuing as "a matter of considered state policy".

Such repression ranges from vetting imams and closing mosques to executions and the detention of thousands of people every year, it claims.

"Religious regulation in Xinjiang is so pervasive that it creates a legal net that can catch just about anyone the authorities want to target," said Sharon Hom, Executive Director of Human Rights in China.

The report also reveals that almost half the detainees in Xinjiang's re-education camps are there for engaging in illegal religious activities.

Uighurs make up about eight million of the 19 million people in Xinjiang.

By Tim Luard BBC News Online

But many remain unconvinced by Beijing's latest claims against those accused of carrying out a series of bombings and assassinations in its biggest and most politically restive region.

In the past, China revealed as little as possible about the sensitive issue of separatist violence in the huge and remote western region of Xinjiang.

Apart from anything else, it was highly embarrassed by the claims of local Muslim Uighurs that they were being oppressed and overwhelmed by outsiders in their own land.

"Beijing was initially very shy about the whole problem," said MJ Gohel, a terrorism specialist at the Asia Pacific Foundation, an independent intelligence think tank based in London.

Separatists were labelled as mentally ill and the whole problem was simply covered up, he said.

But now he believes China has "come out of the closet" as far as Xinjiang and terrorism are concerned.

The Uighurs, who look and sound more like Turks than Han Chinese, enjoyed a brief period of independence in the 1940s, calling themselves the Republic of East Turkestan.

CHINA'S UIGHURS Ethnically Turkic Muslims Made bid for independent state in 1940s Sporadic violence in Xinjiang since 1991

But the communists re-established control soon after coming to power and the Han Chinese population has since increased from less than 10% to almost 50% of the total.

China has waged a continuing battle against signs of rebellion against its rule, though human rights groups say many of those it has arrested may have done "little more than practice their religion or defend their culture".

Since the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States, China has not only intensified its crackdown in Xinjiang, but it has also felt bold enough to seek outside help.

It now describes its once secret and sensitive private problem as an integral part of the war on global terrorism.

It has already named more than 10 groups it accuses of being behind terrorist attacks aimed at creating an independent Islamic state.

Now it has picked out four groups and 11 individuals it says are threatening not only China's security but also that of other countries in the region.

China says they are all based abroad and therefore it needs international help in dealing with them.

They include the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which the US and the UN agreed to ban last year after being heavily lobbied on the issue by China.

As well as ETIM, the groups named on China's first ever "terrorist" list are the Eastern Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO), the World Uighur Youth Congress (WUYC) and the East Turkestan Information Centre (ETIC).

There is credibility to the claims that both these groups - ETIM and ETLO - have close links with terrorist groups in the region MJ Gohel, Asia Pacific Foundation

The last two groups, both based in Germany, have been operating openly and legally for years, and there seems little prospect of the German Government acting to close them down as China wishes.

Although they both support the creation of a independent state for Xinjiang's Muslims, there is no sign of any evidence linking either of these groups to terrorism, said Michael Dillon, a specialist on Xinjiang at the University of Durham.

Like many others, he is not convinced that the other two groups on the list even exist.

"There are militant organisations, it is true, involved in some of these attacks inside Xinjiang, but whether they have links abroad or really are these two that are being named is open to doubt," Mr Dillon said.

The US may have decided to back Beijing's original call for action against ETIM partly as a way of repaying China's support for its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to some observers. At the same time, they say, Washington seems to have agreed to overlook Chinese human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Bin Laden link

But some terrorism specialists say there are grounds for believing that Washington and Beijing have tangible evidence linking ETIM to the Taleban in neighbouring Afghanistan and Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

"The Chinese do have a valid argument in this case," said MJ Gohel of the Asia Pacific Foundation.

In recent years a large number of Uighurs have crossed the border from Xinjiang into Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia and have come into contact with al-Qaeda and other groups, he said.

"Some have become radicalised and received training and arms before slipping back across the Chinese border.

"There is credibility to the claims that both these groups - ETIM and ETLO - have close links with terrorist groups in the region".

The failure of Pakistan to stop them is one reason for the recent cooling of ties between Beijing and Islamabad, Mr Gohel added.

Beijing is currently pressing Washington to repatriate several Uighur prisoners who have been held at Guantanamo Bay since being detained by US forces in Afghanistan.