Police refute Rebiya Kadeer's claim of "100 deaths in Kashgar"

URUMQI, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Police in Kashgar, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Thursday denied claims by Rebiya Kadeer, the separatist World Uyghur Congress leader, that police had killed more than 100 Uygurs while breaking up mass demonstrations in the city.

In a response to the deadly violence that began in the region Sunday, a statement by Kadeer was published in U.S. media on July 8. In it, she said, "Kashgar has been the worst effected of these cities and unconfirmed reports state that over 100 Uygurs have been killed there.

"Troops have entered Kashgar, and sources in the city say that two Chinese soldiers have been posted to each Uighur house."

However, the public security bureau of Kashgar, 1,600 km southwest of Urumqi, the regional capital of northwestern Xinjiang, issued a written statement to Xinhua, denying the allegations.

The statement said more than 200 people tried to gather at the Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China, and created a "disturbance" there at about 5:15 p.m. on Monday.

Local security forces and armed police rushed to the scene, "using vehicles mounted with loudspeakers to disperse the masses who were ignorant of facts" surrounding the previous day's violence in Urumqi, the statement said.

"They reacted immediately to round up troublemakers and quell the incident."

The crowd was dispersed by police at about 6 p.m. with "no deaths or injuries," the police said.