China violence death toll rises to 156

URUMQI, China, July 6 (UPI) -- The death toll from rioting in China's Xinjiang-Uighur region, home to Muslim Uighurs, has been raised to 156, regional officials said Monday.

Officials locked down Urumqi, capital of the northwestern Xinjiang province, in the worst ethnic rioting since the Cultural Revolution, The Financial Times reported.

The Times cited state media as saying 828 people were injured, 261 vehicles burned and 203 shops destroyed.

The rioting was bad news for China on the international front: President Hu Jintao is preparing for the Group of Eight summit Wednesday in Italy. The unrest also came a mere after the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Times noted.

The region has been the scene of tensions between some Turkic-speaking Muslims, who oppose being ruled by the Hans. The official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported police had arrested several hundred participants, including more than 10 key figures blamed for fanning the unrest. Security people were looking for another 90 key figures in the city where the situation remained tense Monday and traffic restricted.

The rioters, carrying knives, wooden sticks, bricks and stones, took to the streets in the evening, Xinhua reported.

The New York Times, citing witnesses and photographs, reported at least 1,000 rioters clashed with police. The report said the violence, which lasted several hours, broke out in a large market area and riot police and paramilitary or military troops were called in to quell it.

An earlier Xinhua report said an initial investigation showed the violence was masterminded by the separatist World Uighur Congress, led by Rebiya Kadeer, a former businesswoman detained in 1999 on charges of harming national security before being released in March 2005 for medical treatment in the United States.

CNN quoted the Chinese media as saying the protesters attacked people on streets, burned public buses and blocked traffic.