Kadeer's allegations of prison killings groundless: official

• Source: Global Times
• [01:43 August 26 2009]
• Comments

Rashit said he did not have an exact number of Uygurs being detained by Xinjiang authorties, but he said the number of Uygurs detained after the July 5 incident was “shocking.”

“Military warehouses in Urumqi were turned into makeshift cells, while many suspects were also moved to other areas in Xinjiang, including Shihezi, as the capacity of prisons in Urumqi cannot afford such a number.”

Rashit's claims were condemned by Hou, who said such remarks are totally baseless.

The Xinjiang government yesterday denied media reports that more than 200 detained suspects will face trial this week amid tight security.

Hu's in town

From Saturday to yesterday, President Hu Jintao made his first trip to the region after the riots, which left at least 197 dead and more than 1,600 injured. Central Political and Law Commission Secretary Zhou Yongkang and the country's police chief, Meng Jianzhu, have visited Urumqi since the unrest to help in the recovery process.

The presidential tour includes Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, and cities such as Aksu, Changji, Karamay and Shihezi.

Hu reportedly visited farmers of Han and Uygur ethnic groups, stopped at steel, petrol and textile enterprises, and thanked police officers for their efforts in keeping the peace in the remote region.

He also called on local authorities to pay attention to reform and development, as well as ethnic unity and stability, to build a “prosperous and harmonious socialist” Xinjiang according to Xinhua.

“The key to our work is to properly handle the relation between development and stability in the region,” Hu said.

“The separatist forces do not have popular support and are doomed to to fail,“ he said.

Qiu Wei contributed to this story