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Ethnic Uighurs and Han Chinese Muslims pray in Xinjiang - Source: Reuters -
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A new round of unrest broke out in China's restive far western
region of Xinjiang, as protesters took to the streets to
demonstrate against a series of reported syringe attacks in the
regional capital, witnesses said.
A resident said he had seen a group of Han Chinese protestors
beating up an ethnic Uighur suspected of carrying out attacks with
syringes, but he was rescued by police and taken to hospital.
State media said police have detained 15 people for the stabbing
attacks that have increased ethnic tensions in the capital, Urumqi,
which was torn by riots in July.
"Han Chinese are complaining about the worsening social order,"
said one hotel worker in the city, who said she had seen a small
protest by members of China's dominant ethnic group.
"They resent the Uighurs for the stabbing thing."
Rumours of AIDS patients attacking pedestrians with hypodermic
needles have previously swept China, but were later shown to be
unfounded.
State media did not say how many people had been stabbed in the
reported attacks.
A doctor in Urumqi said the number may be as high as 1,000, but he
could not confirm that.
He had not personally treated any of the alleged victims.
Nobody had been infected with anything or poisoned by the stabbings
in Urumqi, the China Daily said on its website, citing the Xinhua
news agency.
In Xinjiang's worst ethnic violence in decades, Uighurs, a
Turkic-speaking Muslim people native to the region, attacked
majority Han Chinese in Urumqi on July 5, after taking to the
streets to protest against attacks on Uighur workers at a factory
in south China in June in which two Uighurs were killed.
Han Chinese in Urumqi sought revenge two days later.
Some of the demonstrators were calling for Xinjiang's Communist
Party chief, Wang Lequan, to step down, the first witness said.
Wang has held the office for 14 years.
Calls to the Xinjiang government and police went unanswered.
A visitor to Urumqi, contacted by Reuters, said the atmosphere was
tense, with many ethnic Han Chinese citizens blaming the stabbings
on Uighurs.
Xinhua said victims came from nine ethnicities, including both
Uighurs and Han Chinese.
The Hong Kong newspaper said 400 people had been injured by
attackers who immediately fled.
Most of the victims only realised they had been stabbed after
the attacker had vanished.
Another witness said by telephone that she had seen many protesters
in the street near the centre of the city, but did not give an
estimate of their numbers.
The protests are occurring during the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan.
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