CNN iReport

I have seen several ireports from Urumqi, the capital of China’s westernmost region of Xinjiang where thousands of people have taken to the streets. I have read conflicting accounts of what is occuring but it seems that violence originally broke out in a toy factory between Chinese Han and Muslim Uyghur after a false rumor was started that Uyghur men had raped a Chinese woman. A brawl and subsequent police raid led to at least 2 deaths, and many wounded and arrested. CNN seems to be silent on the recent events. Here's from TimesOnline: "Police fought to restore order last night after thousands of members of China’s Muslim Uighur minority rampaged through city streets, burning vehicles and blocking traffic... Witnesses said that up to 3,000 rioters went on the rampage, smashing buses and overturning police barricades during several hours of violence... Uighurs are extremely reluctant to speak openly for fear of police retribution and are anxious that their conversations may be overheard by China’s all-pervasive secret police. Ilham Mahmut, the head of the Japan Uighur Association, said he had heard through internet communications with China that at least 300 people had been arrested by last night. He said that the confrontation involved about 3,000 Uighur and 1,000 police who used electric cattle prods and fired gunshots into the air to try to break up the demonstration." For the entire article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6644574.ece ireporters have been able to post video taken subversively from cell phones. Here's one: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-292202 The photo is of the seventh riot squad that I found on the internet.

Disclaimer: I originally said that the photo was of the Xinjinag riot police. More accurately, as I was corrected by a commenter below, they are United Nations peacekeeping riot police. Here's the caption that went with the photo:

A 95-member back-up team from China's seventh riot squad in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region prepare to leave for a United Nation peace-keeping mission in Haiti on Wednesday, August 6, 2008. [Xinhua]

The image was from this website:  www.china.org.cn/.../07/content_16151691_2.htm

Update: As of today, Monday, July 6, CNN is now reporting 140 dead and over 800 wounded. Here's from today's article:

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- At least 140 people were dead and more than 800 others injured after weekend violence in China's far west Xinjiang region, the officials said Monday, according to state-run media.

A boy stands in front of the burned wreckage of a bus in Urumqi, July 6, 2009.

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The death toll was expected to climb, according to a regional government spokesman, as reported by China's official Xinhua news agency.

Ethnic Uyghur residents in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, took to the streets Sunday afternoon in a rare public protest that prompted a police lock-down of the city.

By Monday, police had arrested several hundred participants, the Xinjiang Public Security Department said, according to Xinhua. Police were searching for about 90 other key figures.

"Traffic control was partially lifted Monday morning in parts of Urumqi ... but tension still exists in the city," Xinhua said. "Debris has been cleared from the roads and normal traffic has resumed. Workers are still pulling away damaged vehicles from the worst-affected roads in the city."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/06/china.uyghur.protest/index.html

Glad you finally caught up with the news CNN!