Major mosques closed after 'Muslim' riots in Urumqi

14:10, 10 July 2009

BEIJING. July 10. KAZINFORM Five major mosques in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi were ordered shut on Friday in the wake of the recent deadly riots in China's mainly Muslim region, Xinhua said, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti.

Xinjiang, in west China, is home to a total of 10 Islamic ethnic groups, with an estimated 8 million Uighurs. The region has over 24,200 mosques.

Friday is the main day of worship for Muslims.

"Mosques in some sensitive areas were closed at their imams' suggestion," said a local government official in charge of religious affairs. "Muslims normally perform rituals at home in time of plague or social unrest."

Violent clashes between Uighurs and Han Chinese in Urumqi have left at least 156 people dead and over 1,000 injured. The riots started on Sunday when a group of protesters took to the streets demanding a probe into the death of two ethnic Uighurs, who were killed in a fight with Han Chinese workers in late June.

The unrest forced Chinese President Hu Jintao to cut short his visit to Italy, where he was due to attend the G8 summit. China's Communist Party promised on Thursday to "severely punish" the organizers of the riots, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

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