BEIJING // The riot-hit western Chinese city of Urumqi ended an overnight curfew but vowed to maintain calm today after mass demonstrations last week demanding more security following a string of unnerving needle attacks. In a public notice late yesterday, Xinjiang's Public Security Department promised to protect residents and maintain social order, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The department also warned the public not to instigate ethnic conflicts. Urumqi has a large Muslim population. Police received 77 reports of new needle attacks between 5pm on Sunday and 5pm on Monday in Urumqi, it said. Previously, there had been about 530 people who reported attacks, but only about 100 showed physical signs of them. The notice reiterated earlier government statements vowing harsh punishment for those who committed the attacks, including sentences of three years to life imprisonment or even the death penalty. Those who falsely reported needle attacks to cause fear among the public will also face punishment. Last week, tens of thousands of angry protesters poured into the streets of Xinjiang's regional capital, demanding the removal of Xinjiang's leaders over ethnic rioting in July that left nearly 200 dead. Officials say five people died in the protests last week and 45 have been detained, with 12 in custody on suspicion of stabbing people with needles. The government has blamed the string of hypodermic needle attacks on Muslim separatists. On Saturday, the protesters won a partial victory with the firing of Urumqi's Communist Party Secretary Li Zhi and Xinjiang's regional police chief. Authorities also announced that a building built by and named after Rebiya Kadeer, an exile dissident now blamed by the government for stoking ethnic tensions, will be demolished. Ms Kadeer had been a prominent businesswoman in the community before she was exiled to the US. Xinhua said the building has fire and safety issues and must be torn down. The building has more than 500 stores on four floors and was built when Ms Kadeer was a successful businesswoman before running up against the government. She now lives in the United States. Other older buildings in the area will also be demolished, Xinhua said.
*AP