[Al Arabiya Latest] Chinese riot police broke up a small demonstration by Uighurs after Friday prayers in a Muslim neighborhood, arresting several after security forces relented on a decision to close mosques for the day to avoid ethnic tension.Chinese authorities arrested several Uighurs who were taken away from the White Mosque in Urumqi with their hands above their heads for protesting the government's orders to ban Friday prayers. A crowd of several hundred gathered near the White Mosque in Urumqi to witness riot police with submachine guns block roads around the building fearing further ethnic violence in the Xinjiang region.
Earlier on Friday, Chinese security attempted to ban Muslims from gathering at mosques for Friday prayers but relented on the ban when crowds of up to a thousand Uighur faithful refused to disperse without being allowed to pray. "You see, this is how they treat Uighurs -- like animals," said one woman of what appeared to be only a localized flare-up.
Security forces earlier banned Uighurs from Friday prayers
Security forces ordered some 200 mosques to shut down and not allow worshippers in the wake of race riots between local Uighur Muslims and the majority Han Chinese that claimed 156 lives. But the afternoon prayers were testing the government's ability to impose control on the far Western city and contain Uighur anger after Han Chinese, China's predominant ethnic group, attacked Uighur neighborhoods on Tuesday leading to the region's worst ethnic violence in decades.
Beijing has ruled the Xinjiang region with an iron fist as it cannot afford to lose its grip on the vast territory that borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region.
Suspension notices
Other mosques frequented by Hui, a Muslim group culturally akin to Han Chinese, opened their doors on Friday after crowds of a few hundred worshippers began shouting.
Mosques in the overwhelmingly Uighur bazaar district of Urumqi earlier displayed notices that prayers had been suspended. A cluster of Uighurs outside the big Dong Kuruk Bridge Mosque said they were angry and disappointed it hadn't opened. "We feel we are being insulted. This is our mosque. But we are not allowed in, while they let in non-believers," said a young man, pointing out that Chinese security forces had been stationed inside and even in the minarets jutting out above an adjacent expressway.
"Under instructions from superiors, normal prayer will be suspended from today," said a notice at the gateway of the nearby Guyuan Mosque. It was dated Wednesday. Anybody wishing to pray ... please do so at home."
China's ruling Communist Party may fear that big Uighur religious gatherings could become another catalyst for unrest after a week of ethnic strife. Uighurs, a Turkic people who are largely Muslim and share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia, make up almost half of Xinjiang's 20 million people.
President Hu Jintao, forced to abandon a G8 summit in Italy by the ethnic violence in Xinjiang, has said maintaining social stability in the energy-rich region is the "most urgent task". Hu described the Sunday riots as a "serious violent crime elaborately planned and organized by 'three forces' at home and abroad".
"Three forces" is a term China uses to refer to religious extremists, separatists and terrorists it says menace Xinjiang.
There appears little likelihood China will slow its drive to punish those found guilty of killing Urumqi residents in the Sunday mayhem, when cars and buses were burnt. On Tuesday, thousands of Han Chinese, shouting for vengeance, attacked Uighur neighborhoods, and many Uighur residents said people died. The government has not released any numbers. Authorities have posted notices in Urumqi urging rioters to turn themselves in or face stern punishment.
Xinjiang has long been a tightly controlled hotbed of ethnic tensions, fostered by an economic gap between many Uighurs and Han Chinese, government controls on religion and culture and an influx of Han migrants who now are the majority in most key cities, including Urumqi.