China's Xinjiang Braces for Muslim Day of Prayer

Ethnic tensions in China's far-west Xinjiang shift from the streets to mosques of the regional capital on Friday, with many Uighur Muslims saying the authorities would not let them observe their main day of prayer.

Security forces have imposed control over Urumqi, but the prayers after midday will be a test of the government's ability to contain Uighur anger after Han Chinese, China's predominant ethnic group, attacked Uighur neighborhoods on Tuesday.

Those attacks were in revenge for the deaths of 156 people in Uighur rioting on Sunday, the region's worst ethnic violence in decades.

Several mosques throughout an overwhelmingly Uighur bazaar district of Urumqi displayed notices that usual prayers were suspended, and men at other mosques said they thought there would be no prayers on Friday, the main day of worship for Muslims.

"It won't be open," said a man keeping watch outside the big Dong Kuruk Bridge Mosque, with its minarets jutting out above an adjacent expressway. Troops and armored vehicles were stationed beside the mosque.

"The Communist Party won't allow us," said the man, who would not give his name. "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.
     
"Urgent Task"

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 was the "most urgent task".

Hu described the Sunday riots as a "serious violent crime elaborately planned and organised by 'three forces' at home and abroad".

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"Three forces" is a term China uses to refer to religious extremists, separatists and terrorists it says menace Xinjiang.

The decision to silence collective prayers could rankle Uighurs, but thousands of troops and anti-riot police appeared ready to quell any fresh protests. Nearly all Uighurs are Muslim, but few adhere to the strictest interpretations of Islam.

"Jumu'ah is the time of the week when we must pray. For us, it would be an insult to shut it down," said Ahmed Jan, a Uighur resident near the Dong Kuruk Mosque. "If we're not allowed to hold normal religious activities, there will be a lot of anger."

But there appears little likelihood that 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.

Those who gave themselves in would be treated more leniently or even avoid punishment, the notices said. Anyone who provided evidence or turned in suspects would be rewarded and protected by the police, they said, providing a hotline.

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.

Beijing cannot afford to lose its grip on a 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.

Copyright 2009 Reuters. Click for restrictions.