Myanmar's Suu Kyi gets 18 months of house arrest

YANGON (AFP) - – Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was Tuesday handed another 18 months of house arrest by the ruling junta, taking her out of the picture for elections next year and sparking worldwide outrage.

A court convicted the Nobel peace laureate at the end of a marathon trial for breaching the terms of her detention, following a bizarre incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside home in May.

Judges sentenced Suu Kyi to three years of hard labour and imprisonment, but military ruler Than Shwe signed a special order commuting the sentence and ordering her to serve out a year-and-a-half under house arrest.

World leaders rounded on the regime after the verdict, with the European Union threatening fresh sanctions and the United Nations Security Council calling a special meeting to discuss the decision.

Top US diplomat Hillary Clinton condemned the trial and demanded the release of US national John Yettaw.

"Thank you for the verdict," a grim-faced Suu Kyi, wearing pink and light grey traditional Burmese dress, said after the court at Yangon's notorious Insein Prison announced the judgement.

Yettaw, 54, the epileptic former US military veteran who swam to her home, was sentenced to seven years of hard labour and imprisonment on three charges.

Two female aides who lived with Suu Kyi also had their sentences reduced to 18 months. The opposition leader and her assistants had both faced jail terms of up to five years.

The 64-year-old Suu Kyi was later driven back to the house under tight security and the road outside the crumbling villa was sealed off, Myanmar officials said.

She has already been in detention for 14 of the past 20 years since Myanmar's ruling generals refused to recognise her National League for Democracy's landslide victory in elections in 1990.

The last, six-year period of her house arrest expired just after the trial started in May.

Home Affairs Minister Maung Oo had made a surprise entrance to the courtroom, just minutes after the judgment was read out, to announce Than Shwe's intervention in the case.

He said her time in house arrest could be shortened "if she lives well in the suspended sentence", saying that the move was "also for the peaceful security of the country and also to move towards democratisation".

The case has drawn international outrage amid claims that the junta was concocting the charges to keep her locked up for the elections due in 2010, Myanmar's first since the cancelled vote of 1990.

Suu Kyi's lawyers argued during the trial that she could not be held responsible for Yettaw's actions. Her lawyer Nyan Win said her legal team would decide whether to lodge an appeal.

Yettaw, a Mormon whose teenage son died two years ago in a motorbike crash, had testified that he swam to her house after receiving a "message from God" that he must protect Suu Kyi against a terrorist plot to assassinate her.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon's office said he was "deeply disappointed" by the sentence and demanded Suu Kyi's unconditional release.

Clinton, whose country is one of the leading enforcers of sanctions against Myanmar, said that Suu Kyi "should not have been tried and she should not have been convicted."

"We also call for the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners including the American John Yettaw. We are concerned about the harsh sentence imposed on him, especially in light of his medical condition," Clinton said.

The EU vowed to take "targeted measures" by reinforcing sanctions against the regime, while British Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the "sham trial" and French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for new sanctions.

Malaysia Tuesday led calls for an urgent meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and fellow members Indonesia and the Philippines firmly condemned the verdict.

The UN meeting, which diplomats said had been requested by France, was due to get under way at 1900 GMT.

Protesters rallied against the verdict in cities including Tokyo, Bangkok and London.

Amnesty International's Myanmar analyst Benjamin Zawacki told AFP: "This is an attempt by the government to try to present a certain amount of leniency. But it's just enough to keep her away on election day."

However, Myanmar's state-run newspapers carried a commentary Tuesday telling foreign countries not to meddle in the nation's affairs and warning Suu Kyi's supporters not to cause "riots or protests" that would "harm democracy."

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Study planned on RP exhibition in Vietnam

In a bid to promote English language programs offered by Philippine schools in Vietnam, Philippine officials there are preparing an exhibition on Philippine educational services.

An article on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) website (www.dfa.gov.ph) said the programs are targeted mainly for Vietnamese high school and college students, and for business people.

Scheduled in Ho Chi Minh City in the fourth quarter of 2009, the exhibit is being organized in coordination with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC-Vietnam).

The DFA said the “study in the Philippines" promotion exhibit is part of the embassy’s continuing efforts in promoting bilateral trade in educational services.

Under the promotion initiative, the Embassy coordinates with Vietnamese universities on the enrolment of Vietnamese students in Philippine schools.

It also assists Philippine colleges and universities gain recognition in Vietnam and establish links with Vietnamese educational institutions.

“To date, more Vietnamese enroll in intensive English language programs to improve their English proficiency. English courses are requisites for their acceptance into bachelor’s degree programs and masters degrees in various fields of study. Many mid-level professionals also take up masters degrees at the Asian Institute of Management, as well as PhD programs in Philippine universities," the DFA said.

Also, it said a number of colleges and universities in the Philippines are hosts to this growing number of Vietnamese students.

In February, the embassy invited several universities to participate in the 7th International Education and Career Expo (IECE 2009) held in HCMC.

IECE attracts prestigious educational institutions from countries such as Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Vietnam.

Among the exhibitors of the Philippine pavilion spearheaded or funded by the Department of Tourism (DOT) in coordination with the Embassy, the Honorary Consulate General in HCMC, and the PTIC were Miriam College, Quezon City; Enderun Colleges, Makati City; Angeles University Foundation, Pampanga; and St. Paul’s University, Tuguegarao.

Meanwhile, a nine-member delegation from Regions 4A and 4B of the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) After the IECE, the DOT and PTIC, with support from BETP-DTI, arranged for a Familiarization Tour of Philippine Schools in April 2009 for a group of officials from the Vietnamese Government, Vietnamese universities, and educational institutions.

The tour included visits to Philippine schools that participated in the IECE, as well as visits to tourism sites in Metro Manila and nearby areas. - GMANews.TV

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Jemaah Islamiyah behind Jakarta blasts: police

JAKARTA (AFP) - – Indonesian police on Sunday confirmed that regional terror outfit Jemaah Islamiyah were behind the twin suicide blasts at Jakarta hotels, and said one of the bombers had been identified.

Jemaah Islamiyah, which draws inspiration from Al-Qaeda, has carried out dozens of bombings in Indonesia in the past decade including 2002 attacks in Bali that left more than 200 dead, mostly foreign tourists.

Police said an unexploded bomb left in a guestroom of the JW Marriott, which was attacked along with the nearby Ritz-Carlton, resembled devices used in Bali and one discovered in a recent anti-JI raid on an Islamic boarding school.

"They are from the same school. We found similar materials, similar tools, a similar method. That's their job, that's the same network, they are JI," national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna told a press conference.

He said investigators were reconstructing the mangled faces of the two suicide bombers who targeted the hotels during the breakfast period Friday when they were packed with businessmen and diplomats.

"Following the preliminary results of facial reconstruction, both suicide bombers are male," he said, quelling speculation that a woman was involved.

"One of them has been identified. I cannot tell you his complete name but he has the initial 'N'. And another body is still in the process of identification."

Soekarna said nine people were killed in the attacks. Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda on Saturday put the toll at eight, including three Australians and a New Zealander, as well as the two suicide bombers.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith on Sunday visited the site of the attacks, as his government warned more extremist attacks were possible in a travel advisory that urged citizens to reconsider travelling the country.

"There is a possibility of further terrorist attacks in Jakarta and elsewhere in Indonesia, including Bali," it said in the updated advisory.

Investigators say the bombers stayed in Room 1808 of the Marriott for two nights before the attacks and disguised themselves as guests when they walked into crowded dining and meeting areas and detonated their suitcase devices.

The bombs -- brought into the hotels despite airport-style security measures -- were packed with metal nuts to maximise the carnage.

The state news agency Antara said police had also recovered a laptop believed to belong to one of the bombers, containing information and codes they used to communicate with each other.

The Indonesian security ministry's anti-terror desk chief, Ansyaad Mbai, has said that evidence pointed to Malaysian-born extremist Noordin Mohammed Top, who leads a violent splinter faction of JI.

Noordin is accused of masterminding bombings at the Jakarta Marriott in 2003, the Australian embassy in 2004 and Bali restaurants in 2005 which have killed more than 40 people.

Mbai said the advanced skills and planning used to pull off the blasts at the luxury hotels -- among the most tightly guarded buildings in Indonesia -- were extremely disturbing.

"Their new skills and advanced tactics, enabling them to smuggle the explosives into the targeted site, pose a very serious threat for our country," he told AFP.

"While they previously detonated the bombs from outside of the targeted place, now they managed to smuggle the bombs into the hotel and stayed several days in the hotel room where they planned the attacks," he said.

"Nobody can predict terror attacks. What we can do is to review our security system to get a more effective approach."

National police chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri has called on hotels and shopping malls across the vast, mainly Muslim archipelago of 234 million people to raise their security protocols in response to the bombings.

The attacks triggered the cancellation of a planned Manchester United friendly against an Indonesian All-Star team scheduled for Monday, a decision that caused great dismay among football fans here.

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Eye—witness describes bomb blasts in Jakarta

An eye—witness to the Jakarta bomb blasts has described the events in Jakarta as they unfolded on Friday morning.

For tourist Ian Wilson, disaster struck just minutes after breakfast.

He said: "We were in the Ritz Carlton when the first bomb went off...at the opposite hotel. And then the second one went off just a few minutes after we left the restaurant."

He added that help came quickly.

He said: "There was a number of people hurt, but the Indonesian authorities were very quick to respond to it. The police, the ambulance and the doctors turned up very quickly. So it was all very well—organised."

Several companies with operations in Indonesia have suspended all business travel to Jakarta. But some, like OCBC bank, have closed branches located near the affected area, and have said they will continue to monitor the situation closely.

CTC Holidays said several of its corporate clients — like banks — have also imposed travel bans to Jakarta.

Travel agents in Singapore are not expecting demand for flights to Jakarta to be dampened as a result of the blasts there.

This is because Jakarta is not typically a travel hot spot for tourists and is more of a destination for business travellers.

Many said they have not received any cancellations to Indonesia.

They said most customers recognise that Jakarta is separate from other destinations in the country. And they are not predicting demand for those locations, like Bali, to dip.

Meanwhile, low—cost carriers have also made alternative arrangements for travellers with flights to Jakarta.

Jetstar, which has four daily flights to the capital, has received some enquiries and arranged a few requests for changes in travel bookings.

Tiger Airways is also operating its usual number of flights. It is offering passengers who are booked to fly within the next seven days the option of postponing their flights up to March 2010. — CNA/ms

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Officials: Jakarta hotel blasts kill 9, wound 50

pair of powerful explosions at two luxury hotels killed nine and wounded at least 50 people in an upscale Jakarta neighborhood Friday morning, sending debris and glass flying onto the streets.
Anti-terror forces were at the scenes of both blasts, but did not yet want to speculate about the possibility of an attack by militants.
"There were bodies on the ground, one of them had no stomach," said a man who lives near the hotels and who arrived at the Marriott before emergency services. "It was terrible."
Alex Asmasubrata, who was jogging by the hotels, said he first heard a loud explosion at the Marriott. Five minutes later, a bomb followed at the Ritz.
The blasts were caused by "high explosives," Security Minister Widodo Adi Sucipto told reporters at the scene, without elaborating. He said they exploded two minutes apart.
He said a New Zealander was among those killed, and that thirteen other foreigners were among the injured.
Two U.S. officials said one American is believed to have been injured but that has not yet been confirmed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation publicly.
The police operational chief Arief Wahyunadi said the bombs were planted in the Ritz-Carlton's Air Langga restaurant and the basement of the Marriott, which was attacked in 2003. Twelve people died in that assault, which was blamed on Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah.
There has been a massive crackdown by anti-terror officials since then, and it has been more than three years since a major terrorist attack in Indonesia.
The Manchester United football team was scheduled to stay at the Ritz on Saturday and Sunday nights for a friendly match against the Indonesian All Stars, the Indonesian Football association said.
Because of past attacks, most major hotels in Jakarta take security precautions, such as checking incoming vehicles and requiring visitors to pass through metal detectors. Still, international hotels make attractive targets, since the nature of their business requires them to be relatively open and accessible.
___
Associated Press writer Lara Jakes contributed to this report from Chicago.

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US general confident defending from NKorea

The commander of US forces in South Korea said Tuesday he was "absolutely confident" of defending against any threat from communist North Korea.

General Walter Sharp said US and South Korean forces were ready to counter potential North Korean attacks ranging from a land invasion to cyber warfare to a missile launch aimed at the continental United States.

"I am absolutely confident that the capabilities that we and the Republic of Korea have are prepared for any threat," Sharp told a news conference in New York, which was video-linked to Washington.

North Korea has in recent months tested an atom bomb, launched missiles and bolted out of a six-nation agreement on ending its nuclear drive. Pyongyang is also a suspect in recent attacks against US and South Korean websites.

Sharp declined comment on whether North Korea planned further tests or on speculation that the barrage of actions are linked to the failing health of North Korean strongman Kim Jong-Il.

"All the governments around the world are hoping and pushing for Kim Jong-Il to change his provocations," Sharp said.

He voiced hope that Kim would return to agreements on denuclearization and "take a new path by which North Korea can emerge as a nation that takes care of its people and does not continue to threaten the world."

Sharp, who technically also heads the UN command maintaining a 1953 armistice on the Korean peninsula, was in New York for meetings including with UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

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China raises Xinjiang death toll to 184

China on Saturday raised the death toll from unrest between Han Chinese and Muslim Uighurs to 184, as riot police and armed soldiers maintained a firm grip on the flashpoint city of Urumqi.

International concern about the worst ethnic violence to hit China for decades continued, with Turkey voicing the most alarm by labelling the plight of the Uighurs "a kind of genocide".

A Uighur group on Saturday also called on the European Union to send observers to Xinjiang.

China has sought to limit the debate over the unrest to the initial violence on Sunday, which saw thousands of Uighurs take to the streets in Urumqi amid frustration over what they say has been decades of repressive Chinese rule.

The death toll from Sunday's violence in the capital of China's remote northwest Xinjiang region was 184, a regional government official said Saturday, up from a previous tally of 156.

Giving the first breakdown of victims, Xinhua reported that 137 of the dead were Han, China's dominant ethnic group, 46 were Uighur and the other was a man from the Muslim Hui minority.

Uighurs rampaged through the streets and attacked Han Chinese during the unrest, according to victims and witnesses AFP spoke with here and graphic footage broadcast by China's state-run television.

Exiled Uighur leaders insist Sunday's protests were peaceful until security forces over-reacted with deadly force, and that further deaths have occurred following Sunday's unrest.

The Uighur World Congress condemned what it called "the brutal crackdown by China", calling on the European Union to send observers to Xinjiang.

Han Chinese took to the streets of Urumqi early in the week wielding knives, poles, meat cleavers and other makeshift weapons vowing vengeance against the Uighurs.

AFP witnessed Han Chinese mobs assaulting two Uighurs in separate attacks, and Uighurs alleged many other beatings took place despite a huge security presence.

The leader of the exiled community, Washington-based Rebiya Kadeer, on Friday said thousands of people may have died across Xinjiang, a vast region that crosses into Central Asia and makes up one sixth of China's territory.

Aside from Urumqi, there had also been "mob killings in different cities such as Kashgar".

Foreign reporters were on Friday banned from reporting in Kashgar, the famed Old Silk Road city about 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from Urumqi, with authorities citing safety concerns.

Before being ordered out of the city, an AFP reporter witnessed a heavy security presence with at least 2,000 soldiers and riot police in and around the city centre and near the ancient Id Kah mosque.

And while China has said 1,434 people were detained for their involvement in Sunday's "riot", Kadeer estimated that as many as 5,000 people had been imprisoned in a massive security sweep.

On Saturday, riot police and soldiers continued to saturate Urumqi, according to an AFP reporter, and some Uighurs remained in hiding to avoid being caught up in the clampdown or attacked.

One Uighur businessman, who did not want to be named, said several of his staff were sleeping at his workplace.

"Some of them don't want to go home because they are afraid they will be arrested," he told AFP.

Halisha, an eye doctor who works in the Uighur part of Urumqi, said he was terrified to return to his home in an area mainly populated by Han Chinese.

"I am afraid of getting beaten because there have been a lot of Uighurs beaten up there," the 30-year-old Uighur told AFP after six nights staying at his employer's clinic.

Turkey has been the most outspoken critic of China's handling of the situation, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday stepping up his criticism.

"The event taking place in China is a kind of genocide," Erdogan told reporters in Turkey after returning from the G8 summit of industrialised nations in Italy.

Xinjiang's eight million Uighurs are Turkic speaking and have far closer cultural links with people from neighbouring Central Asian nations than Han Chinese.

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference had earlier condemned the "disproportionate" use of force in Xinjiang.

The Uighur World Congress said in a statement sent to AFP Saturday: "We are alarmed that more casualties will happen and therefore appeal to the European Union and her chairman country Sweden to send observers to the area in order to stop the brutal crackdown."

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Accident halts Philippine, Japan anti-piracy drill

Two Filipino coast guardsmen fell 20 feet from a helicopter to the deck of a ship during anti-piracy drills Thursday, injuring themselves and halting the exercise, officials said.

Their colleagues scrambled to help the men, who were writhing in pain, according to a TV footage shown by GMA Network.

One of the guards fractured a leg bone while the other broke his ankle. They were taken to a Manila hospital, coast guard spokesman Arman Balilo said.

"We're not sure what triggered the accident," Balilo said, adding an investigation was under way.

The footage seemed to show that the helicopters may not have hovered close enough to the ship to allow the men to comfortably repel down the ropes they were hanging from. The two men fell about 20 feet (6 meters).

The accident halted the drill, during which dozens of Japanese and Philippine coast guardsmen were supposed to simulate a commando raid of a ship that has been taken over by pirates, Balilo said.

About 50 Filipino coast guard personnel and 30 Japanese counterparts joined the two-day drill, which started Wednesday, he said.

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Chinese Troops Take Control in Urumqi Amid Tension

Three days after ethnic clashes left 156 dead in the city of Urumqi, the Chinese government is still struggling to bring calm and order to the Xinjiang capital. On July 8, Communist Party leader Li Zhi announced that the government would seek the death penalty for anyone found responsible for the killings as President Hu Jintao flew home from Italy, cutting short his visit to the G-8 summit. While the city hasn't seen a return to fighting on the scale it witnessed on July 5, scattered outbursts are stoking fears that violence could erupt again, and tensions on all sides of the conflict are still high.

Masses of security forces paraded through the streets of Urumqi on the morning of July 8. Some 40 trucks filled with rifle-toting People's Armed Police crept through the largely Uighur area near the Grand Bazaar, in the south of the city, as a military helicopter made sweeps overhead. Dozens of Uighurs eating breakfast at street stalls walked out to watch the procession. "There are so many," said one young man, shaking his head in disbelief. (See pictures of China's race riots.)

That was the signal the Chinese government meant to send. It was in this district that rioting by hundreds of Uighurs, a Turkic minority group that comprise about 15% of the city's population, exploded after police blocked a protest prompted by the deaths of two Uighurs at a factory in the coastal Guangdong province in late June. The fighting, which targeted the city's majority Han Chinese, left 156 people dead, officials say, and more than 1,000 injured.

On July 7, thousands of club-wielding Han Chinese mobilized on the streets, clearly intent on revenge. Military police blocked them from moving south into Uighur neighborhoods, at times firing tear gas. Xinjiang People's Hospital in the city center took in at least a dozen Uighurs who were beaten. One patient, 22-year-old Abdul, says he was attacked by a crowd of about 100 Han men. He suffered a head injury and a broken arm. (See TIME's China covers.)

There was fear that the violence might spread overnight. The government enforced a curfew, and in the morning Uighur districts appeared largely undisturbed. On July 8 small groups gathered in both Uighur and Han areas, but few people were carrying clubs and knives. There were reports of scattered attacks, but no large-scale violence. Dozens of trucks and hundreds of troops lined Renmin Road, a major east-west corridor that roughly separates the Uighur and Han districts.

State-run media and sound trucks were rebroadcasting a speech by Xinjiang's Communist Party Secretary, Wang Lequan, encouraging residents to focus their anger on "outside forces" rather than on Uighurs. "Comrades, this sort of action is totally unnecessary," he said of the Han street mobs. "Our government forces are enough to defeat the evildoers."

The government has blamed the unrest on Rebiya Kadeer, a Uighur activist who lives in the U.S. She has denied any connection to the violence, and says it was the Chinese government's crackdown on the peaceful demonstration by Uighurs that led to the riot.

Since Hu's return from Italy, the country's top officials are now focused on the Xinjiang unrest. Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu addressed more than 100 police officers clad in all-black riot gear on a street near the People's Square in Urumqi, telling them that they were responsible for the people's safety. Security forces have come from as far away as central Shanxi and eastern Anhui provinces, and the influx of troops has brought the city largely under control. (See TIME's coverage of the G-8 summit.)

But healing the wounds of the past week will be much tougher. Li Qingcheng, a 43-year-old Han bus driver, suffered injuries to his head, back and hands when a mob of Uighur men attacked his bus during the riot on July 5. He said the men smashed the bus windows and then went after passengers. "This society has gone crazy," he said from his bed at Xinjiang People's Hospital. "This was a good society, and then they did something like this."

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HK exhibit features Pinoy photographers’ works

Filipino photographers in Hong Kong marked Philippine independence last June with a photo exhibit at the Philippine Consulate General there.

The Pinoy Photographers Club of Hong Kong (PPC-HK) held the exhibit “Parisukat" in coordination with the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong.

“‘Parisukat’ was officially launched on June 4 at the Consulate premises. It is PPC-HK’s third photo exhibit in Hong Kong that showcases the collections of its 30 artist-photographers and highlights their foray into the use of motion, landscapes and human subjects in their artwork, displayed in a square format," the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in an article on its website (www.dfa.gov.ph).

It said “Parisukat" is the first of a series of events in June 2009 to celebrate the Philippines 111th year of independence.

Consul General Claro Cristobal, who was guest speaker at the event, cited the dynamism and artistry of PPC-HK’s members.

While he acknowledged the exhibit will provide inspiration to Filipinos visiting the Philippine Consulate General, Cristobal challenged the club to bring their future shows to Hong Kong’s mainstream society.

Featured in the exhibit were the works of Manny Alde, Jaymar Alvaran, Banahaw Arnuco, Michael Azucena, Carlo Baltazar, Ethel Baltazar, Gerard Boragay, Romeo Catapang, Jr., Rey Cabatuan, Chiqui Colet, Neo Comia, JimsonDator, Michael Dungca, Butch Durias, Baba Gozum, Jeannie Juliano, Jun Madayag, Jojo Mamangun, Jay Martinez, PJ Mercado, Noel Nellas, Phey Palma, Raul Puentespina, Brayan Ravanzo, Ben Rosagazo, Dudoy Solano, Jr., Blossom Valiente, Carol Vega, Aldrin Victoriano and Joshua Viray.

- GMANews.TV

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China's Urumqi city in chaos

Thousands of angry Han Chinese armed with poles, meat cleavers and other makeshift weapons stormed through Urumqi Tuesday as the flashpoint city riven by ethnic tensions descended into chaos.

Heavily armed security forces fired tear gas at the crowds and ordered a night curfew in an effort to restore calm in Urumqi, the capital of China's remote northwest Xinjiang region where 156 people died in weekend clashes.

But tensions remained at boiling point, with Han Chinese roaming the city wielding machetes, bricks, chains, steel bars and other weapons while calling for revenge against Muslim Uighurs who they blamed for Sunday's carnage.

"The Uighurs came to our area to smash things, now we are going to their area to beat them," one protester, who was carrying a metal pipe, told AFP.

Sunday's unrest, which also left more than 1,000 people injured, began with protests by Xinjiang's Uighurs, who have long complained of repression under Han Chinese rule.

Chinese authorities have blamed exiled Muslim Uighurs for masterminding the unrest -- charges they deny -- and announced Tuesday they had arrested 1,434 suspects for murder, assault, looting and other crimes linked to the unrest.

But Han Chinese in Urumqi declared they were not satisfied with the government response.

"It is time we looked after ourselves instead of waiting for the government," said Dong Sun, a 19-year-old leader of one mob.

Police prevented the crowds, one of which an AFP reporter estimated was more than 10,000-strong, from entering Uighur neighbourhoods by firing tear gas and erecting barricades.

But in other areas of Urumqi police and other security personnel simply looked on as mobs swept through the streets shouting nationalist slogans.

The mobs roamed Urumqi all afternoon and by early evening many were still seen walking the streets carrying their weapons.

The only incident of direct violence against a Uighur that AFP witnessed was when a small mob stopped a car being driven by a Uighur man. The mob smashed his car but the man was able to drive off.

There were no reports from Chinese state media of direct violence against Uighurs.

Xinjiang Communist Party chief Wang Lequan called for calm as authorities announced a night-time curfew.

"Neither the Han nor Uighur people are willing to see the Han people being attacked," Xinhua news agency quoted Wang Lequan as saying.

"It is the same the other way around. If the Han people attack the innocent Uighur people, it is also heart-breaking."

Earlier Tuesday, more than 200 Uighurs, mostly women, staged a protest in front of foreign reporters to demand the release of their relatives detained in the security sweep that followed Sunday's unrest.

The women, with tears rolling down their faces, shook their fists in the air and yelled at police in a tense stand-off that lasted about an hour before ending peacefully.

China's eight million Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking people who have long complained about the influx of Han Chinese into what they regard as their homeland, a vast area of mountains and deserts that borders Central Asia.

Exiled Uighur groups have sought to lay the blame for Sunday's violence on Chinese authorities, saying the protests were peaceful until Chinese security forces over-reacted and fired indiscriminately on crowds.

China has accused exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer of masterminding the violence but she has denied the accusations and called on Monday for an international probe into the violence.

"We hope that the United Nations, the United States and the European Union will send teams to investigate what really took place in Xinjiang," Kadeer told reporters in Washington, urging a forceful response from the White House.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, in a brief statement issued from Moscow during US President Barack Obama's visit there, said the United States was "deeply concerned" about the reports of deaths in Urumqi.

The statement called for "all in Xinjiang to exercise restraint".

The identities of those killed and injured in the riots remained unclear on Tuesday. Chinese authorities have not said how many were Han Chinese or Uighur.

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Fresh protest breaks out in Xinjiang

A fresh protest has broken out in the capital of China's volatile Xinjiang region, with a large group of protesters blocking a main road in a stand-off with security forces.
The demonstration comes two days after at least 156 people were killed in ethnic violence in Urumqi.
The latest clash Tuesday came in front of a group of reporters who were being taken around the city to see the aftermath of Sunday's riots, when hundreds of vehicles and shops were attacked.
About 200 Uighurs, some screaming that their husbands and children had been arrested, blocked a road. Riot police were at one end of the road and paramilitary police were at the other end.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
URUMQI, China (AP) — 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.
A similar situation exists in Tibet, where a violent protest last year left many Tibetan communities living under clamped-down security ever since.
"The Han Chinese say we all belong to the same country. We're all part of one big family," said Memet, a restaurant worker who like other Uighurs declined to give his full name because he feared the police. "But the Han always treat us separately."
A Han Chinese shopkeeper, who only gave his surname Wang because the ethnic issue is so sensitive, disagreed. "Those who cause such trouble are criminals," he said. "They're never happy with what they have."
Sunday's violence was notable because it happened in Urumqi, which has been relatively peaceful and hasn't been a hotbed of religious or political agitation. In other restive Xinjiang cities, red propaganda banners are filled with slogans encouraging ethnic harmony. But most of the banners in Urumqi touted anti-drug and fire prevention campaigns.
The population of 2.3 million is also overwhelmingly Han Chinese in the city, a mixture of drab concrete apartment blocks and gleaming new office towers.
It is not clear how the violence started, as police confronted the protesters. Rioters began flipping over barricades, smashing shop windows and burning cars, according to media and witness accounts.
State television video showed protesters attacking and kicking people on the ground, and the government said many Han Chinese were injured by rampaging Uighurs.
There were no independent figures on the ethnic breakdown of the casualties. Xinhua quoted Li Yi, head of the publicity department of the Communist Party in Xinjiang, as saying Tuesday that 129 men and 27 women died. Li said 1,080 people were hurt in the rioting.
Chinese officials have singled out the leader of the U.S.-based Uyghur American Association — Rebiya Kadeer, a former prominent Xinjiang businesswoman now living in Washington — for inciting the violence.
"Rebiya had phone conversations with people in China on July 5 in order to incite, and Web sites ... were used to orchestrate the incitement and spread propaganda," Xinjiang Gov. Nur Bekri said Monday on television.
Kadeer said Monday that she had learned through Web sites of the planned protests and called her brother to urge him and other family members to stay away.
"The Chinese government always blames me and the World Uyghur Congress for problems over there," Kadeer said in Washington, D.C. "Any Uighur who dares to express the slightest protest, however peaceful, is dealt with by brutal force."
While she blamed the government for the recent violence, she also condemned "the violent actions of some of the Uighur demonstrators" and said her organization supports only peaceful protests.
The government has accused Kadeer of having a hand in many of Xinjiang's problems since her release from prison into U.S. exile in 2005. The Foreign Ministry has publicly accused the 62-year-old of having links to the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, a group the U.S. put on its terrorist blacklist.

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UN Security Council slams NKorean missile launches

The Security Council condemned North Korea's weekend missile launches as a violation of UN resolutions as well as a threat to regional and international security.

Ugandan Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda, who chairs the 15-member body this month, said that members "condemned and expressed grave concern" over Saturday's North Korean ballistic missile launches.

The launches "constitute a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and pose a threat to regional and international security," he said in a relatively mild, non-binding statement.

Council members reiterated that Pyongyang "must comply fully with its obligations and relevant resolutions" and appealed to "all parties to refrain from any action that would aggravate the security situation in the region."

They also expressed their commitment to "a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution" and vowed "to continue to closely monitor the situation and act as appropriate in accordance to the UN Charter."

Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu, whose country feels most threatened by Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and who had requested the council meeting, immediately welcomed the statement.

During the council debate, some members underscored the need to maintain pressure on the Stalinist state while others argued that "diplomacy should be given an opportunity to find a solution" and that the (latest) provocative action (by Pyongyang) should not lead to any escalation from other countries," he added.

The ballistic missiles -- which the Stalinist state is banned from firing under UN resolutions -- were launched into the Sea of Japan in an act of defiance apparently timed for the US Independence Day holiday.

It was the biggest salvo of ballistic weaponry since the North fired a long-range Taepodong-2 and six smaller missiles in 2006, also on July 4.

The launches came as Washington seeks support for tough enforcement of UN sanctions aimed at shutting down Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

Sunday, North Korea's ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun praised Pyongyang's "army-first policy," which gave North Korea the capacity to hit enemies with what it called a "merciless" strike.

But US Vice President Joseph Biden on Sunday dismissed the firings as "almost attention-seeking behavior" and said the focus was on further isolating Pyongyang.

Last month, the Security Council slapped new sanctions against North Korea, banning all weapons exports from the country and the import of all but small arms.

Reacting to North Korea's second underground nuclear test in May, the council also called on all members of the international community to stop and search North Korean ships for weapons.

In a related development, the US chief of naval operations Monday denounced the latest North Korean missile launches and vowed to keep tracking its ships if they are suspected of carrying banned weapons.

"I think they were very unhelpful, and clearly counter to the desires of the international community for a peaceful and stable region," Admiral Gary Roughead told reporters in Seoul after talks with South Korean military officials.

"As circumstances arise in the future, we will continue to support the resolution and we will conduct operations in support of that."

His comments came as a North Korean ship being tracked by the US Navy for two weeks headed home after aborting its voyage.

The Kang Nam 1 was the first ship to be shadowed under new UN sanctions imposed on the hardline communist country on June 12 following its nuclear test in May.

South Korean military officials said the Kang Nam 1 appeared to have entered North Korean waters. The ship, which left North Korea on June 17, was originally reported to be bound for Myanmar.

Pyongyang has responded defiantly to the latest sanctions, vowing to build more nuclear bombs and to hit back against any attempt to search its vessels.

US and South Korean officials believe ailing leader Kim Jong-Il, 67, is staging a show of strength to bolster his authority as he tries to put in place a succession plan involving his youngest son Jong-Un.

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China says 140 dead in Xinjiang riot

At least 140 people have been killed in rioting in the capital of China's northwestern region of Xinjiang, with the government blaming exiled separatists for the Muslim area's worst case of unrest in years.

Hundreds of rioters have been arrested, the official Xinhua news agency reported, after rock-throwing Uighurs took to the streets of the regional capital on Sunday, some burning and smashing vehicles and confronting ranks of anti-riot police.

The unrest underscores the volatile ethnic tensions that have accompanied China's growing economic and political stake in its western frontiers.

But independent analysts said the trouble in the resource-rich region was unlikely to have a major impact on China's economy because of the remoteness of the area and limited access.

Beijing's image as a responsible power, though, may take a hit.

"In terms of China's domestic economy, it is in a remote place and it does not have a big impact on things generally unless there is some evidence, of which there is none, that the government is in some meaningful way losing control," said Arthur Kroeber, Managing Director of Dragonomics, a research and advisory firm in Beijing.

A senior Chinese government official said the unrest was the work of extremist forces abroad, signalling a security crackdown in the strategic region near Pakistan and central Asia.

Residents in the Xinjiang's regional capital Urumqi were unable to access the Internet on Monday, several said. "The city is basically under martial law," Yang Jin, a dried fruit merchant, said by telephone.

Chinese state television showed rioters throwing rocks at police and overturning a police car, and smoke billowing from burning vehicles.

Li Zhi, the Communist Party boss of Urumqi told a news conference that the death toll from the rioting had risen to 140, the semi-official China News Agency said. Xinhua said 816 people were injured and hospitalised.

Police rounded up "several hundred" who participated in the violence, including more than 10 key players who fanned unrest, Xinhua said, and are searching for 90 others.

"For whoever was behind the riot, or for whatever intentions they had in masterminding the bloodshed, one thing is clear: under no circumstances should slaughters be brooked, violence allowed or national security challenged," according to a Xinhua commentary.

China's markets largely brushed off the riots, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index ending up 1.2 percent at a 13-month closing high, bucking a generally weaker trend in the rest of Asia.

"This is regional unrest only," said Zheshanhg Securities analyst Zhang Yanbing.

CLASHES IN JUNE

The riot in Urumqi, a city of 2.3 million residents 3,270 km west of Beijing, followed a protest against government handling of a June clash between Han Chinese and Uighur factory workers in southern China, where two Uighurs died in Shaoguan.

The China Daily put the number of protesters at 300 to 500 while the exiled Uyghur American Association had it as high as 3,000.

An unnamed Chinese official said the "unrest was masterminded by the World Uyghur Congress led by Rebiya Kadeer", according to Xinhua. "This was a crime of violence that was pre-meditated and organised," said the report.

Rebiya Kadeer is a Uighur businesswoman now in exile in the United States after years in jail, and accused of separatist activities. She did not answer calls for comment.

But exiled Uighur groups adamantly rejected the Chinese government claim of a plot. They said the riot was an outpouring of pent-up anger over government policies and Han Chinese dominance of economic opportunities.

"They're blaming us as a way to distract the Uighurs' attention from the discrimination and oppression that sparked this protest," said Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress in exile in Sweden.

Xinjiang is the doorway to China's trade and energy ties with central Asia, and is itself rich in gas, minerals and farm produce. But many Uighurs say they see little of that wealth.

"In Xinjiang one of the major sources of discontent is that there is still a major gap economically between Han and Uighurs," said Barry Sautman, a specialist on China's ethnic politics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Almost half of Xinjiang's 20 million people are Uighurs. The population of Urumqi is mostly Han Chinese, and the city is under tight police security even in normal times.

"I personally saw several Han people being stabbed. Many people on buses were scared witless," Zhang Wanxin, a Urumqi resident, said by telephone.

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China calls Xinjiang riot a plot against its rule

China has called a riot that shook the capital of restive western Xinjiang region on Sunday a plot by exiled members of the Uighur people, after at least three people died in the latest eruption of ethnic unrest there.

Locals took to the streets of Xinjiang's regional capital, Urumqi, burning and smashing vehicles and confronting security forces, following a protest there to denounce government handling of a clash between Han Chinese and Uighur factory workers in far southern China in late June, when two Uighurs died.

On Monday morning "the situation was under control," the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

But officials ordered traffic off the streets in parts of the city of 2.3 million residents -- 3,270 km west of Beijing -- to ensure there was no fresh unrest throughout the day, Xinhua added.

The Chinese government blamed the riot on exiled Uighur groups demanding independence from Beijing, which they say is stifling their culture and exploiting their homeland's resources.

"The facts demonstrate this was controlled and instigated from abroad," an unnamed leading official said of the riot, according to Xinhua, which also said the "unrest was masterminded by the World Uyghur Congress."

"This was a crime of violence that was pre-meditated and organized."

Representatives of exiled Uighur groups adamantly rejected the Chinese government claim of a plot, and said the riot was an outpouring of pent-up anger over government policies and Han Chinese dominance of economic opportunities.

"This anger has been growing for a long time," said Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress in exile in Sweden.

"It began as a peaceful assembly. There were thousands of people shouting to stop ethnic discrimination, demanding an explanation ... They are tired of suffering in silence."

The claims of conspiracy by pro-independence exiles echo the Chinese government's handling of rioting across Tibetan areas in March last year, which it also called a plot hatched abroad.

And the Urumqi unrest underscores that Xinjiang, no less than Tibet, faces volatile ethnic tensions that have accompanied China's growing economic and political stake in its western regions, many thousands of kilometres from Beijing.

Xinjiang is the doorway to China's trade and energy ties with central Asia, and is itself rich in natural gas, minerals and farm produce. But many Uighurs say they see little of that wealth.

NUMBER OF DEAD UNCLEAR

By Monday morning, official news reports were still vague about how many people may have died in the rioting and clashes with security forces.

Late on Sunday, Xinhua had said "three ordinary people of the Han ethnic group" were killed. But its latest report on Monday merely said that "a number of innocent members of the public and one officer of the People's Armed Police were killed."

Alim Seytoff, general secretary of the Uyghur American Association, based in Washington D.C., said he believed numbers of Uighurs may also have died in the clashes, and police and officials were going through university dormitory rooms looking for students involved in the protest that gave way to the riot.

"Urumqi is a tightly controlled city, but the students have access to all sorts of information on the Internet," he said.

"There will be a harsh crackdown, but the basic problems won't disappear."

Seytoff sent pictures by email that he said showed hundreds of locals confronting police officers, armoured riot-control vehicles patrolling Urumqi streets, wounded and bloodied civilians laying on streets, and ranks of anti-riot police with shields and clubs.

Almost half of Xinjiang's 20 million people are Uighurs. Many resent controls imposed by Beijing, and an inflow of Han Chinese migrants. The population of Urumqi is mostly Han Chinese, and the city is under tight police security even in normal times.

Xinjiang has been under increasingly rigid security in recent years, especially in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, when the region was hit by several deadly attacks authorities said were the work of militants.

But human rights groups and Uighur independence activists say Beijing grossly exaggerates the militant threat to justify harsh controls restricting peaceful political demands.

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SKorea says NKorean missiles can hit key targets

The ballistic missiles that North Korea test-fired this weekend were likely capable of striking key government and military facilities in South Korea, a defense official said Sunday, amid growing concerns over Pyongyang's firepower.

North Korean state media did not mention the launches but boasted that the country's military could impose "merciless punishment" on those who provoke it.

Pyongyang launched seven missiles into waters off its east coast Saturday in a show of force that defied U.N. resolutions and drew international condemnation.

The missiles appear to have traveled about 250 miles (400 kilometers), meaning they could have reached almost any point in South Korea, an official at the South Korean Defense Ministry said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

The official said the exact details of the launches were still under investigation.

The launches on July 4 appeared to be a poke at Washington as it moves to enforce U.N. as well as its own sanctions against the isolated regime for its May 25 nuclear test.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned they were "very destabilizing, potentially."

But Vice President Joe Biden indicated the U.S. would not be baited by attacks on the day Americans celebrated independence. On ABC, he described the flurry of rockets as "attention-seeking behavior."

He added: "I don't want to give the attention."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is concerned about the missile tests, which defied Security Council resolutions. He told reporters Sunday that North Korea's communist regime has closed all doors to communication and dialogue.

China's Deputy Foreign Minister He Yafei told journalists in Rome, ahead of this week's G-8 summit, his country is supporting U.N. Security Council actions.

"The U.N. Security Council has adopted a resolution to take action" against North Korea "while leaving room for diplomatic relations," He said. "China will support that resolution. We believe that the six-party talks is the right path."

"We will encourage Japan to use its influence to start talking about a peaceful solution," He said at a briefing ahead of this week's G-8 summit in Italy.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose government assumed the rotating European Union presidency on July 1, also condemned the launches, calling the move "a conscious political provocation."

North and South Korea, which fought a 1950-53 war, still face off across the world's most heavily fortified border. The United States, South Korea's key ally, has 28,500 troops stationed in the country as a deterrent.

The North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary that "our revolutionary forces have grown up today as the strong army that can impose merciless punishment against those who offend us," crediting the country's "military first" policy.

The commentary was carried Sunday by the official Korean Central News Agency.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been devoting much of the country's scarce resources to his 1.2 million-member military under the policy.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency _ citing a government source it did not identify _ reported that five of the seven ballistic missiles landed in one area, indicating their accuracy has improved.

Yonhap said two of the seven missiles launched are believed to be variants of Rodong missiles while the rest are believed to be upgraded versions of Scud-C missiles.

The modified Scud-C versions have a range of up to 370 miles (600 kilometers), which could hit most of South Korea. Rodong missiles, meanwhile, have a range of up to 800 miles (1,300 kilometers), putting most parts of Japan within striking distance.

Yonhap said, however, that the range of the Rodong missiles launched Saturday had been reduced apparently to improve accuracy.

The agency also said the North is believed to have many Scud missiles positioned near the border with South Korea, capable of reaching the Seoul metropolitan area within four to six minutes.

Another South Korean Defense Ministry official said no signs of additional missile launches had been detected, but more were possible given North Korea warned ships to stay away from the area through July 10. He also spoke on condition of anonymity citing department policy.

The North has engaged in a series of acts this year widely seen as provocative. It fired a long-range rocket it said was a satellite in early April, and in late May it carried out its second underground nuclear test following the first in late 2006.

Last month, it appeared to flout new U.N. sanctions again when a ship believed to be carrying illegal weapons set sail. Yonhap said Sunday, however, that the boat, which turned around a week ago, is now headed toward Korean waters.

Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Dongguk University, predicted Pyongyang would now spend some time watching how the international community reacts to the launches.

"There will be a cooling off period for the time being," he said.

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