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    July 18, 2011

Rioting in Xinjiang Claims at Least 4 Lives

   Olcay Rached
   Uighurs living in Turkey hold a poster of Chinese PM Wen Jiabo with a
   banner that reads ' the premier of the country of blood' as they march
   to the Chinese embassy in Ankara, Turkey
   Photo: AP
   Uighurs living in Turkey hold a poster of Chinese PM Wen Jiabo with a
   banner that reads ' the premier of the country of blood' as they march
   to the Chinese embassy in Ankara, Turkey, to commemorate the second
   anniversary of deadly ethnic unrest in China's Xinjiang Uighur
   Autonomous Region (File Photo - July 5, 2011)

   Chinese state media say at least four people were killed Monday when
   rioters attacked a police station in western Xinjiang province.
   The official Xinhua news agency said the rioters attacked the police
   station in the city of Hotan, seizing hostages and setting the building
   on fire. It said additional police converged on the station and shot a
   number of rioters while freeing six hostages.
   The agency said one policeman, a security guard and two hostages were
   killed. It said a number of hostages were taken to hospital.
   Xinjiang in the past has been the scene of violent clashes between
   ethnic Han Chinese and its native Uighur population. The Chinese
   government says almost 200 people were killed during ethnic rioting in
   the region in 2009.
   The Associated Press quoted a spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress
   based in Germany as saying he was told that the rioting began after
   police fired on a demonstration against illegal land seizures.
   The spokesman said more than 100 Uighurs had gathered to protest the
   seizures and to seek information about relatives who disappeared after
   the 2009 riots.

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