381 rioters in Aba county surrender to police

Source: Xinhua | 03-25-2008 08:35

ABA COUNTY, Sichuan, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A total of 381 people involved in the riots in Aba county of Sichuan Province have surrendered themselves to the police as of Monday noon, according to local authorities.

Law enforcement authorities of the Tibetan county issued a notice last Wednesday, urging those who had taken part in the riots on March 16 to submit themselves within ten days.

"Among those surrendered, most are common people or monks deceived or coerced," said Shu Tao, chief of the Communist Party committee of a village where 40 people gave themselves in on Monday morning, following the 23 monks who surrendered on Sunday.

Riots in the Aba county erupted on the heels of the Lhasa unrest. Violent mobs, some shouting "Tibet independence" slogans and holding flags of the so-called "Tibetan government-in-exile", stormed into and attacked government offices, police stations, hospitals, schools and banks.

Total losses remained unknown yet.

Aba county, under the Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture with a population of 63,000, The county town is about 200 km from Sichuan's provincial capital of Chengdu.

Editor:Zhang Ning