Exiled leader says 10,000 Uighurs 'disappeared' in China riots

In a startling claim, exiled Uighurs leader Rebiya Kadeer today said that nearly 10,000 people "disappeared in one night" during the worst-ever ethnic unrest in the Chinese city of Urumqi this month as she launched a global campaign to press Beijing to accept a UN inspection team to bring out the truth.

"Close to 10,000 people in Urumqi disappeared in one night. Where did those people go?" Kadeer, 62, head of the Munich-based World Uighurs Congress, said as she met members of Japan's ruling party and requested them to ask China to release those arrested following the July 5 ethnic riots and accept an investigation team.

"Where did those people go?" asked Kadeer, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. "If they died, where did they go?"

She accused China of trying to destroy her compatriots in the oil-rich northwestern region of Xinjiang.

"The Chinese government is trying to destroy the Uighurs people. I want to tell the international community about our situation," Kadeer, now based in the US, told reporters here while commenting on the Chinese crackdown on her community on July 5 following the unrest in the mainly Muslim region of Xinjiang.

Kadeer alleged that Chinese police used machine guns to randomly shoot Uighurs people after dark after the electricity was turned off, and that the following morning large numbers of Uighur men had gone missing.

Beijing accused Kadeer, the mother-of-11, of being a "criminal" and separatist who instigated the unrest, which China says left 197 people dead, most of them Han Chinese killed by angry Uighurs mobs.

"I was not involved in the incident," Kadeer asserted. "If China says I did it, I want them to show evidence. If the international community judges it as evidence, I would acknowledge that."

Earlier, Kadeer met members of Japan's ruling party and appealed them to address the recent bloody riots in Xinjiang.

Kadeer met House of Councillors member Seiichi Eto and other members of the Liberal Democratic Party at LDP headquarters.

The party agreed to the meeting despite pressure from China not to allow the visit by Kadeer.

During the meeting, Kadeer said she hoped that people would not forget about the Uighurs and asked the LDP members to request Beijing to release those it had arrested and accept a UN inspection team.

"I received the impression that they will not accept China's continued oppression of the Uighurs," Kadeer was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency.

Eto told reporters that the situation surrounding the ethnic group is "an issue that cannot be left untouched" and that he intends to report on it to the government.