BEIJING (AFP) - China has accused a candidate for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize of maintaining links with terrorist organizations and attempting to undermine China.

The Chinese government said Tuesday that the exiled politician Rebiya Kadeer, a member of the Turkic-speaking Uighur minority, was attempting to split the westernmost Xinjiang region from China by colluding with known terrorist organizations.

"She was arrested for endangering national security and sentenced," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a routine briefing.

"At present, she connives with terrorist forces abroad and engages in anti-Chinese secessionist movements that are attempting to separate Xinjiang from China."

Kadeer, who was released from five years in a Chinese prison and exiled to the United States in March 2005, has been nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize that will be announced on October 13.

She was sentenced for leaking state secrets in late 1999.

The release of the 59-year-old mother of 11 came after a tremendous human rights campaign aimed at securing her freedom.

She was once a prominent Xinjiang businesswoman who served the Chinese-backed government of the region before her arrest and imprisonment.

Her philanthropic work included setting up women's associations in Xinjiang and providing women with start up loans to begin local businesses.

She is one of a total of 191 people and organizations in the running for the Nobel Peace Prize this year.

China's rule over Xinjiang is controversial, with Uighurs and other groups accusing the government of suppressing religious and cultural freedom in the name of fighting separatism.