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Chinese armored personnel carriers and trucks loaded with riot police
are patrolling the streets of Urumqi, trying to bring calm to the city
after deadly riots.
Some residents in the capital of Xinjiang
province tell news agencies they are afraid to leave their homes
because of the unrest. Others mourned the dead or looked for missing
relatives.
Saturday's show of force by Chinese troops comes as
officials raised the death toll in the western region to 184.
Officials say 137 where from China's dominant Han ethnic group, and
that most of the others were minority Uighur Muslims.
The
clashes began July 5 when Uighurs attacked Han Chinese. Han Chinese
took to the streets two days later seeking revenge against Uighurs.
Officials say at least 1,434 people have been arrested.
Uighur
groups abroad say hundreds of Uighur Muslims were killed in the
clashes, which involved riot police. One U.S. congressman said the
number of dead is close to 500.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called the violence against Uighurs in
Xinjiang "genocide" and said the Chinese government should not remain a
bystander.
Congressmen William Delahunt and fellow Congressman
Dana Rohrabacher Friday urged the United States to condemn China's
crackdown on Uighur Muslims.
They also asked Beijing not to seek the death penalty for those engaged in peaceful dissent.
Chinese
officials have blamed the violence on what they call separatist and
terrorist groups at home and abroad, specifically naming
Washington-based Uighur activist Rabiya Kadeer.
Kadeer, who
joined the two congressmen Friday, told reporters she is against
violence and did not have a role in fueling the Urumqi riots.
The
Uighurs, a mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking people who make up nearly half
of Xinjiang's population of 20 million, have complained for years of
being marginalized due to the influx of Han Chinese into the province.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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