At least 156 people killed in ethic unrest

China said yesterday that at least 156 people were killed when Muslim Uighurs rioted in restive Xinjiang region in some of the deadliest ethnic unrests to have hit the country for decades.

The violence in the regional capital Urumqi on Sunday involved thousands of people and triggered an enormous security crackdown across Xinjiang, where tension has long simmered amid Uighur claims of repressive Chinese rule.

"People are staying inside, the best thing for you is to go back to your hotel, that will be safe," one businessman near Urumqi's bazaar district - where much of the violence unfolded - said.

The official Xinhua news agency, citing local government officials, said several hundred people had been arrested for their involvement in the unrest, which authorities blamed on Uighurs.

But exiled Uighur groups accused Chinese security forces, saying they had over-reacted to peaceful protests and opened fire.

At least 156 people were killed and 828 injured in the rioting, Xinjiang government spokesman Wu Nong said, and Xinhua warned that the death toll would rise.

"This seriously violent and criminal incident led to the injury and death to nearly 1,000 innocent people," China News Service quoted Nur Bekri, Xinjiang region's chairman, as saying.

"At present, the situation is still seriously complicated, Xinjiang will prevent the situation from spreading to other areas using the most powerful measures and methods, and will safeguard regional stability."

The government and state-run media has not given a breakdown of the dead and injured.

Dramatic footage broadcast of the unrest by the state-run CCTV network showed men turning over a police car and smashing its windows, a woman being kicked as she lay on the ground and buses and other vehicles aflame.

Rocks hurled at Chinese embassy

Demonstrators hurled rocks yesterday at the Chinese embassy in The Hague and about 60 people were detained in a protest that followed deadly unrest in China's Xinjiang region, police said.

Rocks and cobble stones were hurled over the walls around the embassy building and several windows were broken.

Police spokesman Chantal Marges said "about 60 people" were held for failing to follow police orders.

No internet access, Xinjiang residents say China clamped down on the internet in the capital of China's northwestern region of Xinjiang yesterday, in the hope of stemming the flow of information about ethnic unrest.

Some residents in Urumqi, Xinjiang's regional capital, said they had been told there would be no internet access for 48 hours.

"Since yesterday evening I haven't been able to get online," store owner Han Zhenyu told Reuters by telephone.

"No internet here. Friends said they cannot log on, either," said a mobile phone seller who gave only his surname, Zhang.

The websites of the Urumqi city and Xinjiang regional governments were also down.