China Arrests 1,434 After Deadly Muslim Riots

Most of us have read about Muslims rioting in numerous European countries. When the riots were over, Muslims who were in them were basically free to go about their business. Not in China.

China arrests 1,434 after deadly Xinjiang riots
By WILLIAM FOREMAN

URUMQI, China – Police have arrested 1,434 suspects in connection with the worst ethnic violence in decades in China's western Xinjiang region, which killed at least 156 people, state media reported Tuesday.

The arrests come amid a security clampdown on the region, with hundreds of paramilitary police with shields, rifles and clubs taking control of the streets of the capital, Urumqi, where the riots took place on Sunday.

The violence does not bode well for China's efforts to mollify long-simmering ethnic tensions between the minority Uighur people and the ethnic Han Chinese in Xinjiang — a sprawling region three times the size of Texas that shares borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries.

Mobile phone service and the social networking site Twitter have been blocked, and Internet links also were cut or slowed down.

A nonviolent protest by 200 people was broken up in a second city, Kashgar, and the official Xinhua News Agency said police had evidence that demonstrators were trying to organize more unrest in Kashgar, Yili and Aksu.

It said police had raided several groups plotting unrest in Dawan township in Urumqi, as well as at a former race course that is home to a transient population.
The unrest in Urumqi began Sunday after 1,000 to 3,000 protesters gathered at the People's Square and protested the June 25 deaths of Uighur factory workers killed in a riot in southern China. Xinhua said two died; other sources put the figure higher.

Internet and social networking reports on the incident had raised tensions in Xinjiang over the last two weeks.

Many Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gers) haven't been wooed by the rapid economic development. Some want independence, while others feel they're being marginalized in their homeland. The Han — China's ethnic majority — have been flooding into Xinjiang as the region becomes more developed.

The government often says the Uighurs should be grateful for the roads, railways, schools, hospitals and oil fields it has been building in Xinjiang, a region known for scorching deserts and snowy mountain ranges.

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China Update:129 Dead in Muslim Riots

Here is the latest update on the "Muslims Rioting in China" article.

China state media says 129 killed in riots in west

BEIJING – Chinese state media says that 129 people have been killed and more than 800 hurt in violence in the country's western Xinjiang region.

The official Xinhua News Agency did not immediately give any other details Monday on the number of deaths. It earlier reported that four people had been killed in violence after nearly 1,000 protesters from a Muslim ethnic group rioted Sunday in the region's capital Urumqi, overturning barricades, attacking bystanders and clashing with police.

The protesters were demanding an investigation into a fight between Uighurs and Han Chinese workers at a southern China factory last month that state media said left two people dead.

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China Executes two Islamic Terrorists

China is the one country that truly understands that a hard line attitude is what is needed in the war with Islam. Yes Obama, I said the war with Islam! In the past they have executed Islamic separatists and they have just sent two more to go see Allah.

China executes two Muslims for pre-Olympics attack
By Peter Foster in Beijing
China has executed two Muslim separatists who were convicted of attacking a police station in the country's restive northwest in the run up to the opening of last summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.

The attack in the Silk Road city of Kashgar in the far northwestern province of Xinjiang left 17 dead, including many policemen, and prompted a major security crackdown with armoured cars being deployed outside Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium.

Abdurahman Azat, 34, and Kurbanjan Hemit, 29, were both members of China's Uighur minority, a Turkic ethnic group which the Chinese government has said it considers a "major threat" to stability.

The two men rammed into a large group of police while they were out on a morning training run on Aug 4 2008, before following up with explosives, a home-made gun and knives, state-run media reported at the time.

According to an official report, the attack was part of a plan to "sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games", although Kashgar is some 2,500 miles from Beijing and no attacks were carried out in the capital.

The news of the executions, which are carried out in China by lethal injection or a bullet to the head, was read out in front of 4,000 officials and Kashgar residents in a local stadium.

The Uighur minority accounts for almost half of Xinjiang's population of 20 million. Many resent control from Beijing which this year will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the entry of the People's Liberation Army into the province.

Already the Chinese government has warned it fears further terrorist attacks in the run up to the anniversary in October.

A spokesman for the Europe-based World Uyghur Congress, said the two men had not received fair treatment, alleging that Hemit had been badly beaten while in custody and was unable to walk during his trial.

"There was no chance for their families to see them, and no lawyer at all," said Dilxat Raxit, adding that the bodies of the executed men had not been returned to their families.

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UK:Islamic Segregation OK

A headteacher in the UK has been forced to resign after she tried to do away with faith based segregation in school assemblies. The headteacher was actually labeled a "racist" because she want children of all faiths to be in the assembly together. The world is officially upside down now.



Headteacher forced to resign after being branded racist for trying to axe separate assemblies for Muslims
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
09th February 2009

A primary school headteacher has resigned after Muslim parents protested over plans to scrap separate faith assemblies for their children.

Soon after taking over at the school Julia Robinson told staff she wanted to hold assemblies for all pupils, which would encompass all faiths.

The practise is common in most schools and after taking advice from the local authority, Ms Robinson set up a working party to look at alternatives.

But their work was stopped after a number of parents at Meersbrook Bank Primary Community in Sheffield complained about the plans.

Mrs Robinson was accused of being racist and following the complaints she was away from her post for most of last year.

She was due to make a phased return to her duties this term. But again there were protests from some parents when they heard she would be coming back.

Mrs Robinson resigned from her job and the school's chair of governors Sarah Browton also quit in support.

A member of staff who asked not to be named said: 'The headteacher inherited the separate assemblies when she started the job and she took careful advice from the authority on what to do about them.

'But when she tried to stop them, feeling they did nothing to promote inclusiveness, she was accused of being a racist.

'She wanted to hold assemblies for all the pupils, which would include all faiths. That is what happens in most schools but some parents wanted things to stay as they were.

'Mrs Robinson was under a lot of pressure and wasn't at school for some time. The plan was for her to come back but again some of the parents put a stop to that.

'Many of us here just feel this is all very wrong. Everyone was told that we had to heal and we had to move on.

'There's now an interim head in place and that situation could drag on for some time to come.

The feeling is that Julia was doing the right thing and went through all the right routes as to what she was trying to do.

'The aim was for inclusion there's no other school we know that has separate assemblies like these.

'The buzzword from the authority at the moment is all about community cohesion but there is little cohesion at this school. The staff are very upset at what has happened.'

A Sheffield Council spokeswoman said: 'We can confirm that the headteacher of Meersbrook Bank Primary School has tendered her resignation for her post which has been accepted.

'Parents have been made aware of the matter and temporary arrangements are in place until a new headteacher is appointed.'

Acting chair of governors Rob Stephens added: 'We would like to thank her for her work at the school, and wish her well for the future.

'Mrs Pamela Smith has been appointed as the lead teacher.'

After taking over at Meersbrook Mrs Robinson outlined her plans for the future for the 115 year old school on its website.

On it she said : 'We have launched the new school year by reviewing and rewriting our school vision and aims. We pride ourselves on the diversity of our community and our family feel.'

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China:1,300 Muslims Arrested Last Year

Unlike most of the world there are two governments which have drawn a line in the sand when it comes to Islamic encroachment within their countries. The two are China and Italy. This is a year end report on the situation in China.

China arrested almost 1,300 in Muslim west last year: report

BEIJING (AFP) — China arrested almost 1,300 people for terrorism, religious extremism or other state security charges in the country's Muslim-majority western Xinjiang region last year, state press said Sunday.

The vast desert area bordering Central Asia is home to more than eight million members of China's ethnic Uighur population, Muslims who have complained for decades of political and religious repression.

The Procuratorial Daily said the arrests came as the government made "maintaining social stability" a priority last year, when Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympic Games in August.

A wave of unrest, at times resulting in violence, erupted in Xinjiang ahead of the Olympics. According to state press reports, the unrest was largely fomented by Uighur Muslim separatists.

The paper said 1,295 people were arrested on suspicion of endangering state security in the first 11 months of 2008, and that 1,154 were formally charged and faced trials or administrative punishment.

Judicial authorities were ordered to "strike hard on the three forces of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism that endanger state security," it said.

Last month, two Islamic "terrorists" were sentenced to death for an attack on police four days before the Olympics that was intended to sabotage the Games, state press reported earlier, citing the Supreme Court.

The men were convicted of murder following the attack in Xinjiang that left 17 police dead and 15 injured.

The August 4 attack was the worst in a wave of unrest in Xinjiang ahead of and during the Olympics that left dozens of people dead and which China blamed on separatist militants.

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