Urumqi appeared to be settling into an uneasy calm, and the ban on Friday prayers apparently was aimed at preventing large gatherings of Uighurs at the city’s mosques. It was not clear if similar prayer bans were in force elsewhere in Xinjiang on Friday.
As many as 20,000 troops from nearby regions had poured into Urumqi after the rioting began, forming cordons between ethnic Uighur neighbourhoods and those dominated by Han Chinese, who had earlier gone on a revenge spree against Uighur residents.
Since the turmoil began on Sunday, China has accused Rebiya Kadeer, an exiled Uighur leader, of fomenting the strife. Kadeer, who lives in Washington DC, has denied the charge.
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