Citing a police announcement in Urumqi, the regional capital that was the epicentre of the unrest on July 5, the Xinhua news agency said 319 people had been detained.

Police have previously confirmed the detentions of over 1,600 people, according to earlier state media reports.

Urumqi Public Security Bureau said the detentions came "after information was received from the public or obtained through the police investigation," Xinhua said.

The arrests were made "in Urumqi or in other parts of Xinjiang," the statement said, adding "suspects would face charges in connection with the riot that left 197 people dead," according to Xinhua.

On Thursday, Urumqi police issued photographs of 15 suspects still at large and promised leniency for those who turned themselves in. Those who did not would be "punished severely", the police said.

Uighurs say the unrest was touched off when Urumqi security forces responded violently to peaceful protests over a brawl at a factory in southern China. State media said the factory clash left two Uighurs dead.

The government says Uighurs, most of whom are Muslim, went on a rampage in Urumqi against members of China's dominant Han ethnic group.

earlier related report
Chinese hackers crash Australian festival website
Chinese hackers crashed the website of Australia's biggest film festival, organisers said Saturday, escalating tensions over a visit here by the exiled leader of the Uighur minority.

Online bookings for the Melbourne International Film Festival had to be shut down after the site was bombarded with phony purchases which resulted in the entire program being sold out, said festival spokeswoman Asha Holmes.

A Chinese citizen living in the United States had alerted organisers to the viral campaign, which originated from a website in China titled "A Call to Action to All Chinese People", said Holmes.

The site explained how to set up a fake profile to buy tickets, and aimed to crash the festival's site in protest against its screening of "Ten Conditions of Love" and its hosting of the documentary's subject, Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.

"It's a very pointed attempt to shut down the system, which has been quite effective," Holmes told AFP.

"We have had to shut down our online site and ask everyone to book at the physical box office or on the phone."

The scam aimed "to protest and sabotage the Melbourne International Film Festival because the festival invited Rebiya Kadeer, the exiled Uighur leader from Washington DC," the man who first raised the alarm wrote, in an email seen by AFP.

"Really, we imagine that until we withdraw the film (about Kadeer), which we are not going to do, this kind of activity will continue," Holmes said.

China has labelled the US-based Muslim minority leader a "criminal" and accuses her of masterminding the July 5 Xinjiang riots that left at least 197 people dead and 1,600 injured.

Canberra has rebuffed Chinese objections to the visit by Kadeer, saying she is not a "terrorist" and there is no reason to exclude her.

All Chinese language films were withdrawn from the festival in protest, and Hong Kong and Taipei's trade offices both pulled their sponsorship.

China summoned Australia's ambassador to the foreign ministry in Beijing to protest Kadeer's visit, according to state media there.

Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun told Ambassador Geoff Raby that Australia must not allow Kadeer to engage in any anti-Chinese separatist activities during her visit, the official Xinhua news agency reported late Friday.

Australia should "immediately correct its wrongdoings", it said, apparently referring to Canberra's decision to issue a visa to the 62-year-old grandmother and Nobel Peace Prize candidate.

earlier related report
Kadeer kin blame her for deaths in unrest: China state media
Relatives of exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer have blamed her for the deaths of innocent people in ethnic unrest early last month, Chinese state media reported Monday.

Kadeer's son Khahar, daughter Roxingul and younger brother Memet wrote an open letter to her, expressing "their moral indignation at the riot" in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang region, the Xinhua news agency said.

"Because of you, many innocent people of all ethnic groups lost their lives in Urumqi on July 5, with huge damage to property, shops and vehicles," they wrote, according to Xinhua.

"The harmony and unity among ethnic groups were damaged," the letter allegedly said.

The Chinese government says Kadeer was behind the July 5 violence, which left 197 people dead, most of them Han Chinese killed by angry mobs from China's Uighur minority.

Kadeer, a former businesswoman who spent several years in Chinese jail before leaving for US exile earlier this decade, has denied the charges.

Among those of Kadeer's children who remain in China, her son Ablikim Abdiriyim was sentenced in April 2007 to nine years in prison for what Beijing called "secessionist" activities.

Two other sons, Khahar and Alim, were fined in 2006 for alleged tax evasion while Alim was also sentenced to seven years in jail, according to Amnesty International.

It was not possible to immediately ascertain the authenticity of the letter, which was widely reported in the Chinese-language media.

Chinese state television showed footage from the alleged letter, written in the Arabic script of the Uighur language.

The relatives held Kadeer and the World Uighur Congress (WUC), which she heads, responsible for the unrest, Xinhua said.

"Evidence proved the riot was organised by the WUC, led by Rebiya Kadeer, and implemented by a group of separatists within the Chinese borders," the letter reportedly said. "Those who committed crimes should take responsibility."

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