 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
China arrests 94 Xinjiang unrest fugitives: state media
Beijing (AFP) Dec 9, 2009 Authorities in China's restive Xinjiang region have arrested 94 fugitives suspected of involvement in deadly ethnic violence in July, state-run media said on Wednesday. The report by Xinhua news agency appeared to indicate that further harsh sentences could be forthcoming over the violence, for which China has already executed nine people and sentenced eight others to death. Violence erupted in the streets of the Xinjiang capital Urumqi on July 5, when Uighurs -- a Muslim minority that has long complained of repression under Chinese rule -- attacked members of China's Han ethnic majority. The fugitives were seized as part of a month-long large-scale crackdown on general crime in November that busted 66 criminal gangs and resulted in the arrests of 382 people, Xinhua said. It quoted Xinjiang police as saying the crackdown was aimed at "consolidating stability and eliminating security risks." It gave no information on the ethnicity of those arrested. China's roughly eight million Turkic-speaking Uighurs accuse authorities of decades of religious, political and cultural oppression -- which Beijing denies -- and tensions have simmered in Xinjiang for years. The violence in July was the worst in China in decades and left nearly 200 people dead and more than 1,600 injured, according to official figures. So far, 41 people have been tried and sentenced over the unrest. Most of those sentenced to death have been Uighurs, based on names provided in state media reports. Uighurs say the violence was initially triggered when police cracked down harshly on peaceful protests in Urumqi sparked by a brawl at a factory in southern China that state media said left two Uighurs dead. China claims it faces a serious separatist threat in Xinjiang. But exiled Uighurs say Beijing hypes the threat to justify harsh controls in the strategic western region, which is rich in energy reserves. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links News From Across The Stans
Gates in Afghanistan for talks on US troop surgeKabul (AFP) Dec 8, 2009 US Defence Secretary Robert Gates held talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday to thrash out Washington's sweeping new strategy to send 30,000 extra troops to fight the Taliban. Gates is in Kabul on the first official US visit since President Barack Obama last week announced he would boost the US deployment in Afghanistan to 100,000 to counter an increasingly virulent Taliban ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook