Chinese Security Forces Shutdown City over Ethnic Violence

Chinese paramilitary police stand at attention during drills at their barracks outside the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, 24 July 2008.

Thousands of security forces have been deployed in the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang region to try to end deadly ethnic clashes.

The show of force comes as Chinese President Hu Jintao cut short a visit to Italy for the G8 summit to deal with the crisis.

The unrest between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese began on Sunday and has left 156 people dead.

More than 1,400 people have been arrested over the violence. Fresh scuffles have been reported as police try to arrest protesters.

President Hu was expected to join G8 talks taking place in Rome on Thursday.

Instead he was flying home from an airport in Pisa, leaving officials to represent China at the G8 summit.

A state visit to Portugal has also been cancelled, China's official news agency Xinhua said.

 

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