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Victim's relative: Shaoguan, Urumqi violence have no link

Updated: 2009-07-11 15:18

A family member of a Uygur man who died in a toy factory brawl in Shaoguan, south China's Guangdong Province, condemned the Xinjiang riot and rejected some reports that the two incidents have any link.

The brawl between Han and Uygur workers which killed two Uyghurs is said to have sparked Sunday's riot that left 156 people dead and more than 1,000 injured thousands of kilometers away in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi.

Patigul, 20, is an elder sister of Aximujiang Ahmad who was killed in Shaoguan. She told Xinhua she was heartbroken to learn the loss of many families in the violent crimes in Xinjiang.

"The murders must be punished", she added.

Patigul said the local government of Shufu County in Kashgar had been funding Aximujiang and the other younger brother's education ever since their parents' death. Therefore, the people who used the death of her brother to stage the violence have ulterior motives, she said.

Soundbite: Patigul, sister of Shaoguan incident victim Aximujiang Ahmad What happened in Guangdong has nothing to do with the riot in Xinjiang. It is the conspiracy of a few violent criminals and those having ulterior motives that lead to the unrest in Urumqi.

Patigul said she is satisfied with the way the government handled the aftermath of the Shaoguan incident. The body of Aximujiang Ahmad was sent back to his hometown by plane on June 29, and was buried on the same day according to the local tradition, said Patigul.

Soundbite: Patigul, sister of Shaoguan incident victim Aximujiang Ahmad It is those stupid, ignorant people who instigated the incident. I sincerely hope that Urumqi, Kashgar and other places would return to peace and tranquility and our government would calm the Xinjiang violence as soon as possible.

Xinhua News Agency correspondent reporting from Urumqi (XHTV)