DTN News - NORWAY TERROR PLOT: Norway Convicts Two Men Over al-Qaeda Plot On Danish Newspaper

DTN News - NORWAY TERROR PLOT: Norway Convicts Two Men Over al-Qaeda Plot On Danish Newspaper
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources The Telegraph - UK
 (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 31, 2012: Two men were found guilty on Monday of involvement in an al-Qaeda plot to attack a Danish newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, the first convictions under Norway's anti-terror laws.

A third defendant was acquitted of terror charges but convicted of helping the others acquire explosives.

Investigators say the plot was linked to the same al-Qaeda planners behind thwarted attacks against the New York subway system and a shopping mall Manchester in 2009.

The Oslo district court sentenced alleged ringleader Mikael Davud, to seven years in prison and co-defendant Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak to three and a half years.

Judge Oddmund Svarteberg said the court found that Davud, a Chinese Muslim, "planned the attack together with al-Qaeda". Bujak was deeply involved in the preparations, but it couldn't be proved that he was aware of Davud's contacts with al-Qaeda, the judge said.

The third defendant, David Jakobsen, who assisted police in the investigation, was convicted on an explosives charge and sentenced to four months in prison – time he's already served in pretrial detention.

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It wasn't immediately clear if any of the defendants would appeal.

The case was Norway's most high-profile terror investigation until last July, when a right-wing extremist killed 77 people in a bomb and shooting massacre.

The three men, who were arrested in July 2010, made some admissions but pleaded innocent to terror conspiracy charges and rejected any links to al-Qaeda.

During the trial Davud denied he was taking orders from al-Qaeda, saying he was planning a solo raid against the Chinese Embassy in Oslo. He said he wanted revenge for Beijing's oppression of Uighurs, a Muslim minority in western China.

Davud, who moved to Norway in 1999 and later became a Norwegian citizen, also said his co-defendants helped him acquire bomb-making ingredients but didn't know he was planning an attack.

Prosecutors said the Norwegian cell first wanted to attack Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, whose 12 cartoons of Muhammad sparked furious protests in Muslim countries in 2006, and then changed plans to seek to murder one of the cartoonists instead.

Bujak, an Iraqi Kurd, said the paper and the cartoonist were indeed the targets, but described the plans as "just talk".

Prosecutors had to prove the defendants worked together in a conspiracy, because a single individual plotting an attack is not covered under Norway's anti-terror laws.

"There is no doubt that Davud took the initiative to prepare the terror act and that he was the ring leader," the judge said as he delivered the verdict.

He said Davud planned to carry out the attack himself by placing a bomb outside Jyllands-Posten's offices in Aarhus, in western Denmark.

The men had been under surveillance for more than a year when authorities moved to arrest them. Norwegian investigators, who worked with their US counterparts, said the defendants were building a bomb in a basement laboratory in Oslo.

Jakobsen, an Uzbek national who changed his name after moving to Norway, provided some of the chemicals for the bomb, but claims he did not know they were meant for explosives. Jakobsen contacted police and served as an informant, but still faced charges for his involvement before that.

An Associated Press investigation in 2010 showed that authorities learned early on about the alleged cell by intercepting emails from an al-Qaeda operative in Pakistan and – thanks to those early warnings – were able to secretly replace a key bomb-making ingredient with a harmless liquid when Jakobsen ordered it at an Oslo pharmacy.

The judge said it had been proven that Davud had contacts with al-Qaida in Pakistan, and that his notebook contained references to Saleh al-Somali, al-Qaeda's chief of external operations, who officials believe helped organise the New York, Manchester and Norway plots. He was killed in a CIA drone strike in Pakistan in 2009.

During the trial, prosecutors presented testimony obtained in the US in April from three American al-Qaida recruits turned government witnesses.

Source: AP

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources The Telegraph - UK
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DTN News: China Growing Strategic Interests In Cambodia

DTN News: China Growing Strategic Interests In Cambodia

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Thai Media

(NSI News Source Info) BANGKOK, Thailand - August 18, 2010: China has donated more than 250 trucks to Cambodia after the United States withheld a shipment of military vehicles in response to Phnom Penh’s recent expulsion of 20 Uighur refugees, local media reported. The donation was announced by Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on his return from Shanghai, the Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported. Hor Namhong said China would donate 257 military trucks and 50,000 military uniforms. Military Trucks produced by China. He said the gesture was made by Beijing of its own accord during a meeting in Shanghai between China’s President Hu Jintao and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen. “[Hun Sen] did not ask them, but they know our requirements, and [Hu Jintao] promised to provide further military assistance in the future,” he said. China has growing business and strategic interests in Cambodia, and is Phnom Penh’s most important investor. In the past four years Cambodia has approved more than 6 billion dollars of Chinese investment. Much of that is in infrastructure, particularly hydropower dams. The investment figure excludes 880 million dollars in Chinese grant and aid during that period. It also excludes 1.2 billion dollars in economic assistance awarded by China immediately after Cambodia expelled the 20 Uighur asylum-seekers in December at Beijing’s request. Both countries denied any link between the two events, though that denial was not widely believed. The expulsion of the Uighurs drew strong criticism from Washington, which promised penalties for Cambodia’s failure to meet its international obligations. Cancelling the shipment of US trucks was the first of those punishments. Human rights workers have expressed rising concern at growing ties between private business and the military in Cambodia after Hun Sen encouraged business leaders to “adopt” military units. Cambodian military regularly guard huge private land concessions across the country, and have been used in the past to evict the rural poor.

DTN News: China TODAY September 5, 2009 ~ Five dead Amid Urumqi Protests / China Blames Muslim Separatists For Needle Attacks

DTN News: China TODAY September 5, 2009 ~ Five dead Amid Urumqi Protests / China Blames Muslim Separatists For Needle Attacks

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) URUMQI, China - September 5, 2009: Five people died in unrest this week in the far-west Chinese city of Urumqi, its deputy mayor said, after a third day of protests which were broken up by police using tear gas. Chinese security forces chase Han Chinese demonstrators at a road block during a protest at the center of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region September 4, 2009. Tension flared in China's western city of Urumqi on Friday, when hundreds of Han Chinese tried to push past security barriers into an ethnic Uighur neighbourhood and shouted demands for better security. The confrontation came a day after many thousands of Han Chinese massed in the streets in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang, protesting that they were the targets of mysterious attacks with syringes and that authorities had been too slow to punish Uighurs behind deadly riots on July 5. Han Chinese protesters massed in the capital of the Xinjiang region, angry at authorities they blamed for failing to control a spate of syringe attacks and being slow to bring to trial ethnic Uighurs charged with deadly rioting on July 5. The demonstrations are a rare direct challenge to the government by middle class urbanites, and could inflame ethnic resentments as Beijing prepares to showcase the nation's achievements on October 1, the 60th anniversary of Communist rule. Troops blocked protesters' access to neighbourhoods that are home to Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim people native to the energy-rich region. Faced with deteriorating support among the majority Han Chinese, Beijing dispatched public security minister Meng Jianzhu to Urumqi, where he urged officials to "restore social order as soon as possible". The unrest came two months after deadly ethnic riots swept the city, killing at least 197 people, most of them Han Chinese. The July 5 riots began after police stopped Uighurs demonstrating against the deaths of Uighur factory workers attacked by Han co-workers in southern China in late June. Among the five who died on Thursday, two were "innocent civilians", while police were still investigating the other deaths, Deputy Mayor Zhang Hong told a news conference. He did not specify the ethnic backgrounds of the dead nor how they died. On Thursday, thousands of Han Chinese demanded the resignation of the region's powerful Communist Party secretary, Wang Lequan, who has held the post for 14 years. Friday's evening television news showed Mr Wang grimly taking notes at a meeting held by public security minister Mr Meng. Mr Meng repeated government accusations that separatists, trying to stir up instability, were behind the syringe attacks. Chinese security forces block a road during a protest by Han Chinese at the centre of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region September 4, 2009. Tension flared in China's western city of Urumqi on Friday, when hundreds of Han Chinese tried to push past security barriers into an ethnic Uighur neighbourhood and shouted demands for better security. The confrontation came a day after many thousands of Han Chinese massed in the streets in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang, protesting that they were the targets of mysterious attacks with syringes and that authorities had been too slow to punish Uighurs behind deadly riots on July 5. "Maintaining stability is the central task of overriding importance in Xinjiang at the present time," he said. Twenty-one Uighurs had been detained for the syringe attacks, Mr Zhang said, adding that four have already been indicted. Most of the victims were Han Chinese, he added, but other ethnicities were also attacked.

DTN News: China TODAY September 4, 2009 ~ Fresh Protests In Restive Xinjiang Capital

DTN News: China TODAY September 4, 2009 ~ Fresh Protests In Restive Xinjiang Capital *Source: DTN News / AFP (NSI News Source Info) URUMQI, China - September 4, 2009: The Chinese city of Urumqi was under lockdown after tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets Thursday over mysterious syringe attacks in the capital of restive Xinjiang region. Chinese paramilitary police watch as Chinese gather on the streets of Urumqi in western China's Xinjiang province, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009. Chinese residents protested deteriorating public safety Thursday after reported syringe attacks in the city where ethnic rioting in July killed nearly 200 people. The streets were deserted apart from several hundred police officers, an AFP reporter said. Many were armed with riot shields and truncheons and some with guns in a forceful response aimed at staving off a second wave of bloodshed following that seen here in July, when nearly 200 people were killed. The police presence was heaviest in the southern half of the city, home to many of the city's Muslim ethnic Uighurs. About two hundred police with several dozen military trucks were camped out in the People's Square. All major roads and highways into Urumqi were closed to traffic and police had ordered residents to stay indoors. The state Xinhua news agency said "tens of thousands of people" had earlier gathered at several locations to protest a series of syringe attacks against members of various ethnic groups. Shops and markets were shuttered. Some Uighurs, who clashed with Han Chinese in July in the worst ethnic unrest to hit the country in decades, were among the protesters who crippled traffic in the city, Xinhua said. "There are about 10-20,000 people and many police in the street at every intersection," a Han woman who runs a local medical clinic told AFP, asking not to be named. "There are more than 100 police stationed every 400-500 metres," she said. "I heard there was a protest yesterday afternoon and I saw it myself today. They shouted, 'Protect our homeland.' Most of them are Han." "The reason for the protest was because people were stabbed by the needles," the woman at the clinic added. The Xinjiang-based Bingtuan Television said authorities had been receiving reports since August 20 of people being attacked with needles, putting the number of assaults at 476. Xinhua said 21 people, whose ethnicity was not disclosed, had been detained after attacking members of nine ethnic groups, including Han Chinese and Uighurs. Four have been arrested for criminal prosecution. No one had been infected or poisoned in the assaults, the agency said, but it remained unclear why attackers used syringes, or what these contained. Regional Communist Party chief Wang Lequan and Urumqi party boss Li Zhi both "called on the crowds, on two separate occasions, to stay calm and show restraint," Xinhua reported. Some witnesses said protesters had shouted slogans against Wang, demanding that he do something to put an end to the needle stabbings. Xinhua said the protests began late Thursday morning when more than 1,000 people gathered in a residential district of Urumqi, and a crowd congregated in another area when a man was caught after allegedly stabbing a child. The demonstration spread to major streets in the city, with some needle-stabbing attacks occurring during the protests. One attacker was caught and police stopped the crowd from beating the person, Xinhua reported. Chinese paramilitary police officers stand guard near the People's Square after they closed down the roads heading to the square in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, China, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. More than 10,000 people, mostly from the Han Chinese majority, took to the streets Thursday, demanding increased security and punishment for those behind the July riots. Demonstrators said police beat some protesters, but there were no major clashes. "The Han have staged a march so the police imposed controls and ordered us to stay indoors," Halisha, a Uighur eye doctor, said by telephone. A receptionist at an Urumqi hotel said Internet access had been limited throughout the city. Local and regional government officials were not immediately available for comment. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said she had no knowledge of the incident but told reporters at a regular news briefing that China was "competent to safeguard social stability and national unity". Uighurs say the July 5 riots occurred after Urumqi police tried to forcibly break up a peaceful protest over a brawl involving factory workers in distant southern China that state media said left two Uighurs dead. China however has accused exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who lives in the United States, of orchestrating the unrest. During a visit to mainly Muslim Xinjiang late last month, President Hu Jintao described those behind the unrest as "separatists" who were "doomed to fail." Kadeer has denied any involvement in the violence. Dilxat Raxit, the Munich-based spokesman of Kadeer's World Uighur Congress, said witnesses had told him that about 10 Uighurs had been beaten and taken to hospital in the latest unrest. A female office worker in downtown Urumqi said the situation in the city had been "very chaotic and especially serious" in the past two days.

DTN News: China's President Hu Jintao Vows Xinjiang 'Separatists' Will Fail: Report

DTN News: China's President Hu Jintao Vows Xinjiang 'Separatists' Will Fail: Report *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 26, 2009: President Hu Jintao vowed on Tuesday that "separatist forces" which China blames for recent deadly unrest in its heavily Muslim Xinjiang region would fail, state media said. A Chinese police officer patrols in Urumqi, in northwest China's Xinjiang province on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. China's President Hu Jintao has pledged new reforms to help accelerate economic growth in Xinjiang after the remote region was rocked by deadly ethnic rioting, saying that stability there matters to the whole country. "The separatist forces do not have popular support and are doomed to fail," Hu was quoted saying by state-run China Central Television (CCTV). CCTV said Hu's comments were made to Xinjiang officials in the regional capital Urumqi, the scene of bloody riots in July that left at least 197 people dead. They came amid an inspection tour of the region by Hu that also took him to four other smaller cities, the report said. The July 5 riots saw members of the mainly Muslim Uyghur minority clash with Han Chinese in the worst ethnic unrest to hit the country in decades. Uyghurs say the riots occurred after Urumqi police tried to forcibly break up a peaceful protest over a factory worker brawl in distant southern China between Uighurs and Han and which state media said left two Uyghurs dead. However, China blames the Urumqi unrest on what it calls separatist forces lead by exiled Uyghur activist Rebiya Kadeer, who is based in the United States. She has denied any involvement. CCTV broadcast images showing Hu in Xinjiang inspecting businesses, thanking security personnel for helping put down the unrest, and consoling victims. "(The separatist forces) destructive activities cannot shake the overall stability of Xinjiang's reform and development," Hu was quoted as saying. Xinjiang's government earlier Tuesday denied a report in the state media that more than 200 people would be put on trial this week over the July violence, which prompted a massive security crackdown across the region. On Monday, the state-run China Daily reported on its front page that the People's Intermediate Court in the regional capital Urumqi was preparing for the trials amid tight security. "At present, there is no scheduled date for the trial," Li Hua, an official at the Xinjiang government media office, told AFP on Tuesday. "I don't know how China Daily got that information, but it's not true. We will announce it to the media when there is a trial."

DTN News: China TODAY August 25, 2009 ~ 200 To Face Trial In China For Xinjiang Unrest

DTN News: China TODAY August 25, 2009 ~ 200 To Face Trial In China For Xinjiang Unrest

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 25, 2009: China will this week put more than 200 people on trial over last month's deadly ethnic unrest in Xinjiang, with security tight due to fears of fresh violence, state media said Monday. An ethnic minority Chinese resident walks past a checkpoint with heavily armed paramilitary police along a street of Urumqi, northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. More than 200 people are expected to go on trial this week for their involvement in sectarian riots last month that killed nearly 200 people in China's western region of Xinjiang. The trials will take place in the Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi, the capital of the mainly Muslim northwest region where violence in early July left at least 197 people dead, the China Daily reported, citing unnamed officials. The more than 200 defendants will face charges ranging from disrupting traffic to murder, the paper said, meaning that some of them could be given the death penalty. Authorities had previously announced only 83 formal arrests. Armed police have started around-the-clock patrols in the area near the courthouse, in a massive security build-up ahead of the hearings, the paper said. Local residents have voiced concerns that the trials will rekindle the same raw emotions among the city's different ethnic groups that fanned the deadly street clashes less than two months ago. "Many bereaved Han families will come to wait for the verdicts, and the authorities fear they may clash with any Uighur in their presence," Guo Mei, a saleswoman who works near the court, told the China Daily. The violence that broke out in Urumqi on July 5 pitted Han Chinese against Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking and predominantly Muslim people, in the worst ethnic unrest to hit the country in decades. The paper reported intense public interest in the trials, which will all be public, except from those dealing with "splitting the state". "I'd be very angry if those rioters receive light sentences or escape justice," said an unnamed worker. "They should be given harsh penalties for causing the loss of so many innocent lives." One Han shopkeeper told the China Daily that Han Chinese who "overreacted" when seeking out Uighurs in retaliatory mob violence following the initial riots "should be granted leniency by the judge". Both court officials and prosecutors declined to comment when contacted by AFP. A city government official surnamed Ma said he had "no information so far" about the trials. With doubts remaining over who was to blame for the violence, the future of ethnic relations in volatile Xinjiang hinges to a large extent on how the Chinese government handles the aftermath, observers said. "There is profound distrust on both sides in terms of Han Chinese and the Uighurs," Phelim Kine, an Asia researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch, told AFP. "The Chinese government can make a huge advance in terms of bridging that divide, in terms of bringing the two sides together, by allowing an independent investigation that all sides can point to as impartial and objective." The paper did not say how many of the defendants were Uighurs. However, it reported that more than 170 Uighur and 20 Han lawyers had been assigned, suggesting that the bulk were members of the minority group. Prosecutors have prepared more than 3,300 items of physical evidence for the trial, including bricks and clubs stained with blood, 91 video clips and more than 2,150 photos, the paper said. Kine said HRW was concerned that the Urumqi trials "will follow the same abuses of international process that we saw in the trials of suspects detained following the unrest in Tibet in March 2008."

DTN News: Pakistan Supports China's Stance On Xinjiang Says Asif Ali Zardari

DTN News: Pakistan Supports China's Stance On Xinjiang Says Asif Ali Zardari *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 22, 2009: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has supported China's policies in its insurgency hit Xinjiang region. Zardari, who arrived here on Friday on a four day visit, said Islamabad endorses China's policies in the riot hit Xinjiang region, where nearly 200 people were killed in ethnic riots between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese residents. "We are glad that the situation in Urumqi has been brought under control. We believe that China's policy of social harmony and development is producing great results for all Chinese people," Zardari told media persons in Islamabad before leaving for Beijing. When asked about Pakistan's relationship with China, Zardari said Beijing is an all-weather and time-tested friend of Islamabad. "We greatly value our cherished friendship and have complete trust on all bilateral, regional and global issues," Xinhua news agency quoted Zardari, as saying. Zardari, who is on his fourth visit to China since assuming office in 2008, said he wanted to translate China's tremendous success in various fields in Pakistan to make it a better country. "The reason that I keep going to China is to learn and educate myself, then transfer what I can experience and see, and then translate that success to Pakistan and accordingly hope to do better for my nation," he said. Commenting on the Swat military offensive, Zardari claimed that extremists have been forced to retreat, but said operation against the militants would continue until the writ of the government is fully established in the region. "We expect the military operation to continue until the writ of the government has been fully restored. Democracy is always a format of dialogue. But nobody would be allowed to take the law into their hands and extremism would not be tolerated," he said. Zardari said peace and normalcy is slowly returning to Swat, Malakand and Buner with people starting to return to their home. "The process of development has been launched. Economic activity is picking up gradually," he said, adding: "The social and administrative infrastructure has been restored in troubled areas."

DTN News: Beijing Police Anti-Terror Patrols For Anniversary

DTN News: Beijing Police Anti-Terror Patrols For Anniversary

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 19, 2009: Beijing police will step up their anti-terror efforts ahead of the 60th anniversary on October 1 of the founding of communist China, with more street patrols and checkpoints, state media said Wednesday. The massive police mobilisation will likely surpass the security clampdown seen for last year's Olympic Games in the capital, the China Daily reported. The report said the new security measures were also prompted by last month's unrest in China's far western Xinjiang region, which the government said was orchestrated by Muslim Uighur separatists and left nearly 200 people dead. "Security is currently our top priority," the paper quoted Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu as saying earlier this week. We must "guard against and relentlessly crack down on sabotage activities carried out by hostile forces from both home and abroad... attempts of violence and terrorism must be foiled before they are turned into real action." Terrorism expert Li Wei told the paper: "The authorities have put terrorist attempts and violence from enemy forces, including extremists, separatists and terrorists, as the biggest threats against National Day activities." Police will target residents from ethnic groups and expatriates who have only resided in the capital for a short time, the China Daily said. Security forces have been engaged in a two-month-long anti-terrorism campaign aimed at maintaining social stability ahead of the sensitive anniversary, it added. The official Xinhua news agency reported last week that police had confiscated 19,000 guns and 500 tonnes of explosives in a pre-October 1 crackdown on illegal firearms. More than 5,200 suspects have been arrested. On October 1, 1949, communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong declared the establishment of the People's Republic of China from Beijing's Tiananmen Square, following a victory over Nationalist forces who fled to Taiwan.

DTN News: China Blames Unrest On Foreign-Based Separatists

DTN News: China Blames Unrest On Foreign-Based Separatists *Source: DTN News / AFP (NSI News Source Info) GENEVA, Switzerland - August 8, 2009: Last year's unrest in Tibet and July's violence in Xinjiang were instigated by separatists abroad, China told a United Nations human rights hearing Friday. A Muslim man watches armed Chinese paramilitary policemen in riot gear walk past the Dong Kuruk Bridge mosque in the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 17, 2009. Security remains heavy in ethnic Uighur neighbourhoods of Xinjiang regional capital Urumqi after riots on July 5 between the Muslim Uighur minority and majority Han Chinese wounded more than 1,600. The official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday that 192 people were killed in the riots, and that around 1,000 people have been detained. "Facts have fully shown that the two incidents were premeditated and organised crimes of violence, directed and instigated by separatists abroad and carried out by separatists inside China," said Duan Jielong, who led a 30-strong Chinese delegation attending a UN examination on China's record on eliminating racial discrimination. Duan accused the "separatists" of "creating ethnic splits and hatred, undermining... harmonious development in ethnic minority areas and undermining national unity and territorial integrity." He told the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: "These violent crimes not only gravely violated Chinese law, but also gravely violated the purposes and principles of the Convention." The government had taken "prompt action according to law" to stop these acts and was supported by Chinese people of "all ethnic groups," said Duan. It had the "confidence and capacity to ... unite all ethnic groups," he added. During the hearing, some members of the UN committee sought more information on how China is dealing with the two minority populations in the wake of the unrest. Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, who is the special rapporteur on the issue, called on China to detail measures on the treatment of those detained following the Tibet unrest. He also called on China to treat over 1,000 suspects held over the Xinjiang unrest according to "international human rights standards." Meanwhile, another member of the committee Dilip Lahiri noted that economic investments in the ethnic minority regions may have not benefited the minorities but instead had gone to the Han settlers in the regions. "The change in the demographic balance brought about by the Han settlers... and their securing the lion's share of government investments is one of the primary causes of unrest among China's ethnic minorities," he said. "Action by the government to address this trend is imperative," he added. Other committee members also asked about the teaching of ethnic minority languages in schools and issues surrounding religious freedom. The Chinese delegation is scheduled to reply to the questions when the hearing reconvenes Monday. Beijing has said that at least 197 people were killed and more than 1,600 injured in the July 5 unrest in the capital of Xinjiang, Urumqi, which pitted minority Uighurs against members of China's dominant Han ethnic group. Uighurs say the unrest was touched off when security forces responded violently to peaceful protests over a brawl at a factory in southern China that state media said had left two Uighur workers dead. The government meanwhile, has accused Uighurs, most of whom are Muslim, of going on a rampage against Han Chinese in Urumqi. The violence in Xinjiang came a year after riots in Tibet that broke out after monks led peaceful protests to mark a 1959 uprising. The unrest later spread across the Tibetan plateau. On Thursday, exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama told journalists in Geneva that China's policies towards its ethnic minorities had failed to foster trust over the last six decades and need to be reviewed. "After 60 years, their policies basically failed to ... bring trust," he said, and the time had come to carry out a "scientific review of the policies."

DTN News: Uighur Accuses China Of Inflaming Ethnic Tension

DTN News: Uighur Accuses China Of Inflaming Ethnic Tension

*Source: DTN News / AP (NSI News Source Info) MELBOURNE, Australia - August 5, 2009: China is inflaming ethnic tensions by deceiving its own people about last month's deadly riots in western Xinjiang province, an exiled Uighur activist whom Beijing blames for the unrest said Wednesday. Exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer speaks to a media round table in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009, after arriving in the country for the screening of a documentary about her life at the Melbourne International Film Festival. China has accused Kadeer of fomenting the recent ethnic unrest in Xinjiang's capital of Urumqi and had asked Australia to refuse her a visa. (AP Photo/David Crosling) Rebiya Kadeer, a U.S.-based activist who is in Australia for the screening of a documentary about her life, told reporters that Beijing should be held accountable for the violent crackdown. "The Chinese people should be very careful with the Chinese government's versions of the events and the ways and means the Chinese government employ ... to deceive, to some extent, the Chinese people, to create this kind of terrible relationship between two groups," Kadeer said. China says 197 people were killed and more than 1,700 injured during the July 5 clashes between the Muslim Uighur minority and members of China's dominant Han ethnic group. The rioting in Xinjiang province's capital of Urumqi was the worst ethnic violence in China in decades. Beijing blames Kadeer, 62, for instigating the unrest, a charge she denies. The violence broke out after police stopped an initially peaceful protest by Uighur youths. Uighurs then smashed windows, burned cars and attacked Han Chinese. Two days later, the Han took to the streets and staged retaliatory attacks. Kadeer accuses Chinese forces of opening fire on the protesters and then diverting attention from their actions by blaming the violence on an ethnic clash. She has called for an international investigation into the violence to determine how many people died and were arrested. Chinese state media said Tuesday that 83 people had been arrested on charges including murder and arson. Kadeer's attendance at the Melbourne International Film Festival is the source of some controversy, as China had requested that Australia deny her a visa and had asked the festival to drop her movie from the program. "The 10 Conditions of Love," by Australian filmmaker Jeff Daniels, will be screened on Saturday. Seven Chinese-language films were withdrawn from the festival in protest.

DTN News: China Cracks Down On Organized Terror Outfits In Xijiang

DTN News: China Cracks Down On Organized Terror Outfits In Xijiang

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 4, 2009: Police forces and state security agencies had prevented five organized terrorist attacks on civilians in China's far west Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China's anti-terrorism sources said Monday.

Armed Chinese paramilitary policemen in riot gear march out of their barracks before the start of Friday's Muslim prayers near the Dong Kuruk Bridge mosque in the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 17, 2009. Security remains heavy in ethnic Uighur neighbourhoods of Xinjiang regional capital Urumqi after riots on July 5 between the Muslim Uighur minority and majority Han Chinese wounded more than 1,600. The official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday that 192 people were killed in the riots, and that around 1,000 people have been detained.

Police forces and state security authorities had successively crushed five organized terrorist plots in Urumqi, Kashgar, Aksu and Ili in Xinjiang.

Separatist "East Turkestan" terrorists both at home and abroad had been plotting attacks gainst civilians since the July 5 riot that left 197 dead and more than 1,600 injured in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang.

The recent attempted attacks would have "damaged social stability and ethnic unity", the Xinhua news agency quoted the sources, as saying.

Anti-terrorism agencies had captured "a group of suspects involved in the terrorist activities" but the number of people arrested was not given.

Also confiscated were "guns, controlled knifes, explosives and materials advocating violence and terrorism." Further details were kept under wraps.

DTN News: China Urges Nationals In Turkey To Be Vigilant

DTN News: China Urges Nationals In Turkey To Be Vigilant *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 4, 2009: China's foreign ministry has urged its nationals in Turkey to take extra care, citing unspecified threats to their security. "Recently some people and groups have received threats against their security in Turkey," the foreign ministry said in a statement posted on its website over the weekend. China's foreign ministry statement urged Chinese in Turkey to pay constant attention to the conditions around them and try not to go out too much. "The foreign ministry's department of consular affairs urges Chinese nationals and groups in Turkey to strengthen security precautions and pay attention to how safe the situation is." China's relations with Turkey have been strained after unrest on July 5 in the northwest Chinese region of Xinjiang involving Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs that left at least 197 people dead. In reaction to the unrest, Turkey's Trade Minister Nihat Ergun last month called on consumers not to buy goods from China. Also in July, around 10,000 people attended a gathering in Istanbul organised by the Islamic Saadet party, angered by what they saw as Chinese mistreatment of the Uighurs. The foreign ministry statement urged Chinese in Turkey to pay constant attention to the conditions around them and try not to go out too much. "They should avoid crowds and sensitive areas to the greatest extent possible, and take necessary emergency precautions whether they stay at home or go out," it said. The statement did not describe the threats that have allegedly been levelled against Chinese in Turkey. A foreign ministry official contacted by AFP Monday declined immediate comment. China issued a security alert in mid-July to its citizens in Algeria after Al-Qaeda reportedly vowed to avenge the deaths of Muslims killed during the ethnic unrest.

DTN News: Chinese Police Detain 319 Linked To July Ethnic Rioting

DTN News: Chinese Police Detain 319 Linked To July Ethnic Rioting *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - August 3, 2009: Chinese police detained 319 people suspected of involvement in deadly ethnic rioting in northwestern Xinjiang region last month, after a "wanted" list of suspects spurred tip-offs, the official Xinhua news agency said Sunday. Security forces patrol the streets of Urumqi moments before Friday noon prayer, known as Jumu`ah to Muslims, Xinjiang province, China, 17 July 2009. The Public Security Bureau of the regional capital Urumqi made public July 30 a list of names and photos of 15 Uighurs it was seeking for their suspected role in the violence. "When the public security of Urumqi made an announcement... about those suspects who had been detained and those who were still on the 'wanted' list, it aroused the feelings of local residents and they had more initiative in exposing those suspects," Xinhua said. The report, which cited local security officials, didn't give a total for the number of people now being held in connection with the riots. Officials have previously said more than 1,500 had been detained. None has been publicly charged or released. In Xinjiang's worst ethnic violence in decades, Uighur rioters attacked majority Han Chinese in Urumqi on July 5 after taking to the streets to protest attacks on Uighur workers at a factory in south China in June that left two Uighurs dead. Hans in Urumqi sought revenge two days later. Officials said the violence left 197 dead, mostly Han Chinese.

DTN News: Jihadis Identify U.S. Plots Against China In Xinjiang And Africa

DTN News: Jihadis Identify U.S. Plots Against China In Xinjiang And Africa

*Source: DTN News / The Jamestown Foundation By: Abdul Hameed Bakie

(NSI News Source Info) - July 20, 2009: In light of the ethnic violence in China’s Xinjiang province, various jihadi internet forums focused on the handling of the turmoil by China’s security forces. A vast region comprising nearly a sixth of China’s total land mass, Xinjiang is home to a number of Central Asian ethnic groups, the largest of which is the Turkic-speaking Uyghur people, until recently the dominant group in the region. Massive government-encouraged post-war migration by Han Chinese has made the Uyghurs a minority in their traditional home, known to Muslims as East Turkistan.

The first response of Salafi-Jihadi forums to any perceived injustice inflicted on Muslims anywhere typically involves citing a conspiracy theory regarding the manipulation of Muslims by the United States. One forum debated China’s “brutal” handling of East Turkistan Muslims in a post entitled; “China, the United States.and al-Qaeda Organization” (muslm.net, July 7, 2009). On the trouble in the oil-rich Xinjiang region, a jihadi forum member, nicknamed Ibn Khaldoon al-Jaza’iri, accused the United States of interfering in Chinese affairs by instigating the Uyghur Muslims in East Turkistan to rebel against the government.

The prospect of China taking a leading role in the world as the next superpower is disturbing to the United States. Therefore, wherever there are Chinese investments, especially in oil and gas, there are troubles caused by the United States, alleges al-Jaza’iri. The United States tries to impede China’s quest for alternative sources of energy badly needed for its rapidly growing economy. For example, China has made big strides in Africa by building strong relations with oil-rich nations based on mutual interests.

According to al-Jaza’iri, China exchanges its know-how in infrastructure projects in return for oil from African countries such as Nigeria and Algeria, but the United States uses the Islamic jihadi factions to hinder Chinese efforts to establish a presence in Africa. As an example, al-Jaza’iri gives the terrorist operation in Algeria’s Borj Bouaririj district, where al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for killing 18 Algerian gendarmerie escorting Chinese workers building the highway between Algerian capital and Borj Bouaririj.

In this case, al-Jaza’iri does not appear to have done his homework - the AQIM attack was carried out when the gendarmerie was returning to barracks after having escorted the Chinese workers to their site. The attack was clearly directed at government security forces and not the Chinese workers (Echerouk [Algiers], June 18; Middle East Online, June 21).

Al-Jaza’iri says the constant harassment of Chinese workers by jihadi factions manipulated by the United States raises Chinese investment costs, but adds that jihadis should be careful not to fall for U.S. exploitation and should refrain from attacking Chinese technicians and workers building roads, communication networks and oil facilities for the benefit of Muslims in Islamic countries. It’s likely that the United States will attempt to set fire to Eastern Turkistan by directly or indirectly supporting jihadi operations there, similar to what they did in Afghanistan, backed by religious fatwas (religious rulings) from Saudi Arabia’s Salafist shaykhs.

The “stupid Chinese communist regime,” blinded by its hatred for Islam, is expected to fall for the U.S. plan and commit massacres in Eastern Turkistan. Finally, al-Jaza’iri concludes his posting by calling on al-Qaeda leaders to be smart enough not to plunge into the U.S. trap to weaken China.

The majority of forum members disagreed with al-Jaza’iri. “Abu Hamza al-Alawi” rejected the notion that the mujahideen could be manipulated by the United States, adding the mujahideen follow their own agenda regardless of who benefits from their terrorist actions, so long as jihadi objectives are met. The era of U.S. weapons supplies for Muslims to fight communists is over, says al-Alawi, adding that the Western experience with jihadi factions has taught them that Muslims can’t be manipulated.

In response to al-Alawi’s rebuke, al-Jaza’iri insists the Mujahideen are supported by the West in cases that serve their interests. He contends the West doesn’t categorize the Chechen Mujahideen as a terrorist group because they serve the Western objective of weakening the Russian Federation. [1] The Chechen mujahedeen are considered a legitimate resistance group by the West, which supplies them with weapons through pro-Western Georgia. Al-Jaza’iri claims the West doesn’t perceive the Chechen fighters to be powerful enough to declare an Islamic state that would pose a threat to the West.

Other jihadi forums also focused on the turmoil in Xinjiang. “Abu Hassim al-Ghareeb” urged Muslims not to forget the Turkistan Muslims suppressed by China and to help prevent the Chinese from liquidating their Islamic identity (hanein.info, July 8). Regarding ways of supporting Turkistan, some forum members suggested boycotting Chinese products and investments in Muslim countries, but other, more extreme members called for jihad against China to return the favor of the Turkistan jihadis who they claim poured into Afghanistan in the 1990s, pledged alliance to the Afghan Islamic Emirate, trained in al-Qaeda camps and fought alongside the mujahideen.

In the words of one forum member who urges jihad in China; “Neither boycott nor protests will stop the slaying of our brothers. The solution, known to everyone, is jihad. Who will sell himself to God and rush to the battlefield?” A third forum member called upon global jihad leaders Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri to pay more attention to the revolution in Turkistan and to extend financial and moral support to the Turkistan Mujahideen to make sure they remain adherents of the Salafi creed and part of the global jihadi movement. “Take the initiative. Choose from among them whom you think suitable to lead an Islamic Emirate” said a posting from an Iraqi jihadi forum (faloja1.info, July 8). Again, the jihadi forum members betray their lack of knowledge about East Turkistan – Salafists are extremely rare in the region, where Sufism remains the dominant creed of Xinjiang’s Sunni Muslims.Members of more moderate forums expressed concern over conducting terrorist attacks in China.

Any terrorist attacks there would give the Chinese government a legitimate reason to crush Turkistan’s Muslims, says “First Lieutenant Ata” - “Muslims should only boycott Chinese products and organize protests in front of Chinese embassies. Any direct external military Muslim interference in Turkistan would only exacerbate the problem” (4flying.com, July 10). The jihadi forum members’ hypothesis of U.S. manipulation of jihadi factions to prevent China from becoming a superpower seems far fetched. China is not powerful enough to threaten Western powers militarily or confront the United States.

At best, China could stir up problems for the purpose of making economic gains from the Western world in a way similar to Russia. It is also unrealistic to assume that al-Qaeda and other jihadi factions would play a significant role in a Chinese-Western struggle over Africa or elsewhere. Al-Qaeda terrorist activities in Algeria, for example, are due to an internal Algerian struggle and not to U.S. manipulation of jihadi factions against China’s newly established interests in the region.

DTN News: China Says Police Killed 12 Protestors In Urumqi Riots

DTN News: China Says Police Killed 12 Protestors In Urumqi Riots

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - July 19, 2009: After weeks of clashes in China's violence-stricken northwestern region of Xinjiang, Chinese police forces admit to killing 12 rioters in the western city of Urumqi.

Police search drivers and their vehicles leaving the Uighur district in Urumqi on July 17, 2009 in northwest China's Xinjiang province. Security forces armed with semi-automatic weapons and batons were deployed in China's restive Urumqi city as worshippers descended on mosques for the main Muslim day of prayer.

Xinjiang governor Nur Bekri said on Sunday that police had exercised "the greatest restraint" as they sought to disperse protestors in the capital Urumqi. According to Bekri, security forces shot the "mobsters" after first firing several warning shots.

The official, however, stopped short of saying which ethnic group the "mobsters" belonged to. The Chinese governor said three of those killed died on the spot and nine others died after treatment failed.

Another Chinese official surnamed Wu from the Xinjiang regional government information office confirmed the report on Sunday but could not confirm whether those killed by the police were Uighurs or Han Chinese.

"Many police officers were injured and one was killed," Bekri added. Authorities charge Rebiya Kadeer, a prominent exiled Uighur activist, with fomenting the unrest. Kadeer, a US resident, has denied the charge.

A Uighur man walks past a squad of armed Chinese security personnel on patrol in the Uighur district of Urumqi on July 17, 2009 in northwest China's Xinjiang province. Security forces armed with semi-automatic weapons and batons were deployed in China's restive Urumqi city as worshippers descended on mosques for the main Muslim day of prayer.

The Uighurs were once the majority in Xinjiang but now make up only about half of the region's 20 million people due to Han migration.

The eight million Uighurs in Xinjiang accuse the Chinese government of discrimination and repression. The government, however, denies the charges.

The protests, which saw 197 people killed and more than 1,700 others injured, were sparked over the last month deaths of Uighur factory workers during a brawl in southern China.

DTN News: China Claims Uighur Links To Terrorism

DTN News: China Claims Uighur Links To Terrorism

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - July 13, 2009: China has pointed the finger at Uighur separatists and terrorists for the recent deadly unrest in its Muslim-populated far north-west, but experts question how real those threats are. While many of the Xinjiang region's eight million Muslim Uighurs feel anger at perceived repression under Chinese rule, there is very little evidence to show this has created organised, dangerous opposition, they say. Armed Chinese soldiers in riot gear and wearing sunglasses march along a main street in the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 13, 2009. An uneasy calm continued on Monday in China's riot-hit Urumqi where 184 people died in ethnic violence a week ago, though the official tally of dead could rise, a regional official indicated on Sunday. No sooner had the unrest ended than the government of Xinjiang declared it had solid evidence the World Uighur Congress, led by exiled dissident Rebiya Kadeer, was behind the violence, charges she denies. China's Politburo also blamed the ''three forces'' of extremism, separatism and terrorism for the situation in Xinjiang. Researcher at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary Studies Dr Thierry Kellner said, ''This is a technique that has been used by Beijing for a long time, and that consists in blaming everything that happens in Xinjiang on Uighur exiles. ''It's quite a simple way to absolve one's own mistakes.'' The unrest began on July 5 when thousands of Uighurs took to the streets of Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi, in anger over the deaths of two Uighurs in an ethnically charged brawl at a factory in southern China. Beijing says 184 people died in the ''riots'', while exiled Uighurs have accused security forces of over-reacting to peaceful protests with deadly force. China has long linked Uighur dissidents to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist organisation. In the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, Washington finally agreed to a request from China and listed a Uighur group called the East Turkestan Islamic Movement as a terrorist organisation. But, despite the United Nations also listing the ETIM as a terrorist group, Western experts see no signs that terrorist cells operate in Xinjiang, where Uighurs are Sunni and practise a moderate form of Islam. They say that during the unrest in Urumqi, no Uighur was seen holding up a copy of the Koran or shouting ''Allahu Akbar'', and the Government has shown no evidence of Uighurs using bombs or military weapons.

Jean-Philippe Beja, a China expert at the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China in Hong Kong, said Islamic militant groups likely had some tenuous links to Xinjiang's Uighurs. Other analysts point to the presence of some Uighurs in Waziristan in the north-east of Pakistan, while the United States held a group of Uighurs at Guantanamo Bay before declaring them not to be enemy combatants. ''They have contacts, but do they have networks in place? I don't really believe that,'' Mr Beja said. China has also blamed violence in Xinjiang leading up to last year's Beijing Olympics on ETIM, including one incident that saw 17 policemen killed four days before the start of the Games. But Dr Kellner said Chinese authorities had fabricated the dangers of the ETIM. ''We don't know how this movement is organised. Very few attacks can be attributed to it, and possibly none,'' he said. Analysts say China has used its fight against so-called terrorism to justify repressive policies to quash any form of dissent in Xinjiang. In the United States, some lawmakers are pushing for a review of the ETIM as a terrorist organisation, saying US authorities have relied on intelligence from Beijing to make its determination.

DTN News: China ~ Xinjiang Unrest Continues And Raises Death Toll To 184

DTN News: China ~ Xinjiang Unrest Continues And Raises Death Toll To 184

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) URUMQI, China - July 11, 2009: China has raised the death toll from ethnic rioting in its far west to 184 and detailed for the first time the ethnicity of those killed, while tension lingered over the city at the center of the strife. Chinese paramilitary police patrol on a street in the Uighur district of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang region on July 11, 2009. Deadly unrest in China's Muslim-populated far northwest has highlighted deep tensions felt by dozens of ethnic groups across the vast nation that pose a growing problem for the government, analysts said. The official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday that 137 of those killed in the mayhem on July 5 in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang, were Han Chinese, who form the majority of China's 1.3 billion population, including 111 men and 26 women. Forty-six were Uighurs, the largely Muslim people of Xinjiang who share cultural bonds with Central Asian peoples. All but one of them were men. Uighurs make up 46 percent of Xinjiang's 21.3 million people, according to government statistics. Xinhua said the other person killed in the attacks that erupted last weekend was a member of the Hui ethnic group, which is Muslim but culturally akin to Han Chinese. The brief report did not say whether the death toll included rioters who may have been killed by security forces. The reaction on Urumqi streets to the official death toll reflected the deepening ethnic divide in Xinjiang, with Uighurs expressing disbelief in the number. "That's the Han people's number. We have our own number," said Akumjia, a Uighur resident, as he eyed security forces who had cordoned off a street where there was an outburst of protest near a mosque and then arrests on Friday. A security forces helicopter buzzed overhead. "Maybe many, many more Uighurs died. The police were scared and lost control." Close to where he stood, what appeared to be a spray of bullet holes could be seen on the glass front of a Bank of China office. There were no bullets among the shards. The government has not said what kind of forces was used to suppress the bloody rioting. Many Uighur residents say they heard or saw gunfire. Chinese authorities had delayed releasing the ethnic breakdown of the dead, possibly out of concern it would further inflame the situation. Several Han Chinese residents said distrust toward Uighurs was likely to stay. "This [new number] at least shows that the victims weren't only Han people," said Zhao Hong, a Han resident who said she saw some of the bloodshed from her home window before hiding. "Uighurs also died ... But then they blame Han for being so angry about the killing and looting." "A TOUGH BATTLE TO PROTECT STABILITY" Beijing cannot afford to lose its grip on the vast territory that borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region. Chinese security forces patrol the streets in Urumqi, China, Saturday, July 11, 2009. Thousands of Chinese troops have flooded into Urumqi to separate the feuding ethnic groups. China raised the death toll from riots in its Xinjiang region to 184, state media said Saturday, giving the first ethnic breakdown of the dead nearly a week after communal violence broke out in this far western city. Zhou Yongkang, the top domestic security official in China's ruling Communist Party, said the country now had to "vigorously prosecute this tough battle to protect stability in Xinjiang," the Xinjiang Daily reported on Saturday. Human Rights Watch said that the government had deployed some 20,000 troops in Urumqi since the riots of July 5, which broke out after security forces broke up a protest over the deaths of Uighur workers in far southern China. "The government has promised a thorough investigation into the violence but has so far presented a skewed and incomplete picture of the unrest," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "This raises serious doubts about its commitment to investigating all aspects of the violence rather than presenting a pre-determined version of the events." Urumqi is still tense, with thousands of troops and police deployed throughout the city. A brief demonstration broke out on Friday, the main Muslim day of prayer, after some mosques were opened briefly. On Saturday, anti-riot troops continued to keep a close watch on Uighur residents, and loudspeakers on vehicles blasted warnings that they should stay at home and accept the government's line on the unrest. The Uighur language is related to Turkish, and some Uighurs refer to their desert and forest homeland as "East Turkestan." On Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called the killings in Xinjiang a "genocide." In Washington, two members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning the "violent repression" of the Uighur people by China. It was unclear how soon it would come to a vote in the House.

DTN News: China Says Urumqi 'Under Control' After Show Of Force / Ethnic Violence Continues In Urumqi Despite Chinese Show Of Force

DTN News: China Says Urumqi 'Under Control' After Show Of Force / Ethnic Violence Continues In Urumqi Despite Chinese Show Of Force

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - July 9, 2009: Authorities said the restive Chinese city of Urumqi was "under control" Wednesday following sporadic violence as mobs wielding makeshift weapons roamed despite a massive security presence. Chinese soldiers wearing riot gear sit in the back of a military truck as they patrol the streets of Urumqi, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, in China July 6, 2009. At least 140 people have been killed in rioting in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang, with the government blaming exiled separatists for the Muslim area's worst case of unrest in years. Hundreds of rioters have been arrested, the official Xinhua news agency reported, after rock-throwing Uighur people took to the streets of the regional capital on Sunday, some burning and smashing vehicles and confronting ranks of anti-riot police. President Hu Jintao abandoned a Group of Eight summit in Italy, in what observers said was an unprecedented move, to tackle one of China's worst spikes in ethnic tensions in decades. In Urumqi, the capital of the remote northwest Xinjiang region where 156 people died in unrest on Sunday, army helicopters circled overhead as thousands of soldiers and riot police filled the city shouting out "protect the people". "We support this," said a 45-year-old Han Chinese as he watched the troops roll by in trucks. "But they should have got here sooner. It took them three days to do this. Why so long?" After authorities blamed Muslim Uighurs for Sunday's unrest that also left more than 1,000 people injured, Han Chinese took to the streets Tuesday with shovels, meat cleavers and other makeshift weapons vowing to defend themselves. After a night-time curfew was declared on Tuesday, Chinese authorities appeared determined to show they were able to maintain order. Thousands of riot police wearing helmets and carrying shields lined up on a main road in Urumqi dividing the city centre from a Uighur district, with columns of soldiers behind them. The security build-up had an impact with fewer people wielding weapons taking to the streets, and Urumqi mayor Jerla Isamudin told reporters in the late afternoon that the situation in the city was "under control". He also warned that anyone found guilty of murder in connection to the unrest would be given the death penalty. Official news agency Xinhua said late Wednesday that the city "appeared to be calm" but added "sporadic standoffs and clashes were still reported." Tensions remained high, with some Han Chinese and Uighurs continuing to arm themselves with sticks, poles, knives and other weapons, leading to confrontations and violence, according to AFP reporters. In one of two attacks witnessed by AFP reporters, about 20 Han Chinese men armed with wooden bats attacked a Uighur man in central Urumqi. The beating stopped after about one minute when security forces moved in to disperse the mob, the AFP reporter said, while a local Han Chinese woman said the victim was a Uighur man. The extent of the man's injuries was unclear, as he was quickly taken away. In the second incident, a group of Han Chinese saw three Uighurs at an intersection and chased them. Two of the Uighurs escaped, but a third was caught by some of the crowd and he was assaulted for around 30 seconds, before police took him away. AFP reporters said he had blood on his face after the beating. In another incident, about 200 Uighurs armed with sticks, pipes and rocks began protesting directly in front of a police cordon that was dividing their neighbourhood from a Han-populated area, an AFP reporter witnessed. A Chinese military helicopter is seen circling the city of Urumqi, western China's Xinjiang province, Wednesday, July 8, 2009. Sobbing Muslim women scuffled with riot police, and Chinese men wielding steel pipes, meat cleavers and sticks rampaged through the streets Tuesday as ethnic tensions worsened in China's oil-rich Xinjiang territory, forcing officials to declare a curfew. The crowd of Uighurs grew after a helicopter dropped leaflets blaming Sunday's unrest on exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, but they also claimed police had overnight allowed Han Chinese to freely attack Muslim areas. In a BBC interview on Wednesday, Kadeer blamed Chinese policies for the violent unrest and claimed the death toll from riots was "much higher" than the 156 stated by Beijing. Xinhua late Wednesday reported government sources as saying they had evidence the riot was "instigated and masterminded" by Kadeer, citing "recordings of calls" which referred to unrest ahead of the rioting. China's state media said Wednesday over 100 people "killed by rioters" in the initial violence had been identified, providing the first partial breakdown of the death toll. Highlighting the severity of the crisis, the government announced President Hu had cut short his trip to Italy for the G8 summit. "I have never seen a Chinese president shorten a trip abroad before... there is clear concern," said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, professor of political science at Hong Kong Baptist University. Xinjiang's eight million Uighurs make up nearly half the population of the region, a vast area of deserts and mountains rich in natural resources that borders Central Asia. The Turkic-speaking people have long complained of repression and discrimination under Chinese rule, but Beijing insists it has brought economic prosperity to the region.

DTN News: Riots Engulf Chinese Uighur City / Police Fire Tear Gas In China Protest

DTN News: Riots Engulf Chinese Uighur City / Police Fire Tear Gas In China Protest

*Source: DTN News / Breaking News Related Links: *07/07/2009 Police fire tear gas in China protest *07/07/2009 Fresh Uighur protests erupt *06/07/2009 140 killed in Chinese ethnic violence *06/07/2009 140 killed in China riots

(NSI News Source Info) BEIJING, China - July 7, 2009: Police fired tear gas to try to restore order today as hundreds of Han Chinese armed with clubs marched through the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi, smashing shops and knocking over food stalls run by Muslims.

A crowd of Han Chinese carrying shovels, sticks and metal rods are stopped by Chinese soldiers wearing riot gear march towards the end of the city occupied by ethnic Uighurs in Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 7, 2009. China said a riot that shook the capital of the western Xinjiang region on Sunday killed 140 people and the government called the ethnic unrest a plot against its power, signalling a security crackdown.

The city, where rioting and ethnic clashes killed 156 people two days ago, was extremely tense, with security officials breaking up a separate protest near the railway station.

Muslim women in traditional headscarves also faced off with armed Chinese police, wailing for the release of their sons and husbands detained after the riots.

Police used loudspeakers to appeal to the Han Chinese crowd to stop, but a group of about 300 protesters were joined by two other columns of marchers on Jiefang Nan Road. They appeared to be heading for the Grand Bazaar, the predominantly Muslim area of the city, but were blocked by police.

The crowd, which took up several blocks of the five-lane road, chanted “Unite” and “Modern Society”, and waved wooden sticks, lead pipes, shovels and hoes in the air.

As they headed down a back street toward a mosque, several loud explosions rang out followed by rising white puffs of smoke – and then the smell of tear gas.

The Han Chinese march follows a protest by about 200 people, mostly women from the Uighur minority group, who protested against the security crackdown which has led to more than 1,000 arrests in Urumqi following Sunday’s riot, the area’s worst ethnic violence in decades.

The women said police came through their neighbourhood last night and strip-searched men to check for cuts and other signs of fighting before hauling them away.

“My husband was detained at gunpoint. They were hitting people, they were stripping people naked. My husband was scared so he locked the door, but the police broke down the door and took him away,” said a woman, who gave her name as Aynir.

She said about 300 people were arrested in the market in the southern section of town.The protesters briefly scuffled with paramilitary police, who pushed them back with long sticks before both sides retreated. The 90-minute protest played out in front of foreign reporters on a government-guided tour.

Outside the city’s southern railway station around midday, groups of 10 or so Uighur men with bricks and knives attacked Han Chinese passers-by and shop owners until police ran them off, witnesses said.

“They were using everything for weapons, like bricks, sticks and cleavers,” said a Mr Ma, an employee at a nearby fast food restaurant.

“Whenever the rioters saw someone on the street, they would ask ’Are you a Uighur?’ If they kept silent or couldn’t answer in the Uighur language, they would get beaten or killed.”

Muslim ethnic Uighurs protest in Urumqi in China's far west Xinjiang province on July 7, 2009. Police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of Han Chinese protesters armed with makeshift weapons and vowing revenge, as chaos gripped this flashpoint city riven by ethnic tensions following rioting that claimed at least 156 lives. Authorities ordered a night curfew and thousands of heavily armed police deployed across Urumqi.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed in those reported attacks.

The violence and protests expose the tensions between the minority Uighur people, largely Muslim, and the ethnic Han Chinese in Xinjiang – a strategically vital region which shares borders with Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries. The region has been one of China’s fastest growing, buoyed by oil and gas industries, attracting Chinese migrants.

Yet many Uighurs resent the influx and say they are not benefiting from the growth, and they say their religious freedoms have been restricted as well.

Without the foreign reporters present, today’s protests might not have become known. The government is restricting mobile phone services, has blocked Twitter, whose servers are overseas, and is heavily censoring Chinese social networking and news sites, as it blames Uighur exiles for fanning resentments against Chinese rule.

Urumqi Communist Party secretary Li Zhi told a news conference that more than 1,000 people had been detained as of early today and suggested more arrests were under way.

A woman (bottom L) holds a baby amongst a group of other women in the middle of a road in front of Chinese soldiers and policemen, in the city of Urumqi, in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 7, 2009. Riot police on Tuesday fired tear gas to try to break up rock-throwing Han and Uighur protesters who clashed in the capital of China's Muslim region of Xinjiang two days after bloody clashes killed 156 and wounded more than 1,000.

“The number is changing all the time,” Mr Li said. “We will let those who did not commit serious crimes go back to their work units. But to those criminal suspects trying to flee, we will never let them off.”

The official Xinhua News Agency said earlier today that 1,434 suspects had been arrested, and checkpoints had been set up to stop rioters from escaping.

Officials at the news conference said they could not give a breakdown of how many of the dead were Uighurs and how many were Han Chinese. State television has shown predominantly Han Chinese victims, while overseas Uighur groups say the death toll is much higher for Uighurs.