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As Riots Quiet, China Vows to Execute Killers
Anyone found guilty of murder will be executed, says party head
By Matt Cantor
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Posted Jul 8, 09 12:55 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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After thousands of troops were deployed to quell ethnic unrest in the Chinese city of Urumqi, “the situation is under control,” said officials—who vowed to execute anyone behind the riot's 156 deaths. Most of those charged with murder so far have been students, said the city’s Communist Party head, noting that “everyone, and particularly the Han people, should show restraint,” the BBC reports.
“It feels like martial law in everything but name” in the city, said a BBC correspondent, who observed “hundreds of paramilitary police” trying to separate the mainly Muslim Uighur part of town from the Han Chinese. Despite reported calm in Urumqi, violent incidents continued today, reports Reuters, including a clash of some 1,000 Han Chinese with security forces amid anger over the arrests of Han men. Han Chinese also reportedly beat a Uighur man.