Chinese authorities closed most mosques in the far
northwest city of Urumqi Friday, and urged the city's Muslims to pray at home.
The city is under heavy security following several days of ethnic violence that
started with a huge demonstration on Sunday that left more than 150 people dead.
Three local officials patrolling a Uighur neighborhood in Urumqi are
making an announcement in the local Uighur language. A woman surnamed Bahai, 38,
says they are telling people not to go to the mosque for Friday prayers, the
main day of worship for Muslims.
She says the officials told them to
pray at home today.
Many residents here say they have not been to pray at
their local mosques all week. Some say the mosques have been closed. Others say
they are afraid to leave the house. They are afraid of reprisals by Han Chinese
following the Uighur-led riots on Sunday, as well as the government security
crackdown.
The Uighurs are a mostly Muslim minority that share
similarities with people in Central Asia. More than two million Uighurs live in
Urumqi, but the city's overwhelming majority ethnic group is still the Han
Chinese.
At the customary time for Friday prayers, small crowds of Muslim
Uighurs gather across the street from one of the largest mosques in Urumqi, near
the city's Grand Bazaar. Usually 3,000 to 5,000 men come to pray here, but it
seems this week only a few hundred came by to see if they could
pray.
Soldiers in green army uniforms parade in front of the mosque's
entrance in steady intervals, and a few are stationed on top of one of the
minarets.
Many mosque-goers are frustrated. One 40-year-old man who
declined to give his name says it is not acceptable on a Friday to ask people to
pray at home instead of at the mosque.
He says his religion's rules
require him to pray in a larger group on Fridays.
Uighur religious
leaders have condemned the violent events of this week, saying it is against the
teachings and spirit of Islam.
The unrest in Urumqi and other parts of
the Xinjiang region is causing concern at the top levels of the Chinese
government. Chinese President Hu Jintao abandoned a G8 summit in Italy, and
returned to deal with the unrest. In a statement broadcast on state television
Friday, he said maintaining social stability in Xinjiang is the "most urgent
task," and described the Sunday riots as "a serious crime" planned by
separatists and terrorists, inside and outside China.
The Uighurs accuse
the Chinese of discrimination and repression. The Chinese government accuses
some Uighurs of seeking an independent homeland.
