Top leaders for tough riot punishment

URUMQI, China, July 9 (UPI) -- China's top leadership, led by President Hu Jintao, called for "severe punishment" of those guilty in the deadly Urumqi riots.

Hu, who cut short his trip to Italy for the Group of Eight summit because of the situation in China, convened a meeting of the Communist Party Standing Committee to discuss the situation in Urumqi, capital of northwest Xinjiang-Uighur region where ethnic riots last Sunday left at least 156 people dead and more than 1,000 injured.

China Daily reported security forces continued to patrol Urumqi but said most businesses reopened Thursday and public servants had resumed work. The report said Internet access remained blocked in a city where about 400 domestic and foreign media reporters were present.

In their first public comment on the situation, the country's top leaders said stability in Xinjiang was the "most important and pressing task," and vowed "severe punishment" of culprits in accordance with law, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The Standing Committee ordered authorities to "isolate and crack down on the tiny few" and "unify and educate the majority of masses," Xinhua said.

Chinese authorities have said the violence was masterminded by the World Uighur Congress in Munich, Germany, and its leader Rebiya Kadeer. The group has denied the charge and condemned the crackdown on the Muslim Uighurs.

The Standing Committee statement said the Urumqi incident was a serious crime, which was masterminded and organized by the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism at home and abroad, Xinhua said.

The statement called for "holding high the banner of ethnic unity" and maintaining the tradition that all ethnic groups in Xinjiang "breathe together, share the same destiny and have their hearts linked to each other."