Chinas Chief Imam was stabbed to death. Read more...

The imam of China’s largest mosque – in the
city of Kashgar in Xinjiang – has been killed in
what appears to be a targeted assassination.
Jume Tahir, 74, was reportedly stabbed after he
led early morning prayers at the Id Kah mosque
on Wednesday.
His killing came two days after dozens of people
were reportedly killed or injured in clashes with
police in Yarkant county, in the same prefecture.
The reasons for his death remain unclear.
But the BBC’s Damian Grammaticas in Beijing
says Tahir, who was from Xinjiang’s mainly
Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, was a vocal and
public supporter of Chinese policies in the region.
Radio Free Asia quoted an unnamed shopowner
near Id Kah as saying he saw a body lying in a
pool of blood front of the mosque in the morning
and police clearing a huge crowd that had
gathered. He was told the body was that of Mr
Tahir.
A hasty burial was conducted by the late
afternoon and the funeral procession was heavily
guarded by military and police, according to The
Los Angeles Times .
Shortly after his death, police sealed off roads in
and out of Kashgar and cut internet and text
messaging links to other parts of China. Those
restrictions have since been lifted.
Tahir was appointed imam of the 600-year-old
mosque by China’s ruling Communist Party.
Some say he was deeply unpopular among many
Uighurs who disliked the fact that he praised
Communist Party policies while preaching in his
mosque.
He had also echoed the official government line
that blamed the rising level of violence in
Xinjiang on Uighur separatists and extremists,
says our correspondent.
On Monday, a knife-wielding gang attacked a
police station and government offices triggering
clashes that killed “dozens” of Uighur and Han
Chinese civilians, according to state media outlet
Xinhua.
But activists disputed this account and said that
local Uighurs were protesting against a Chinese
crackdown on the observance of Ramadan,
which ended on Monday.
Reports surfaced earlier this month that some
government departments in Xinjiang were
banning Muslim staff from fasting during
Ramadan, and several university students told
the BBC that they were being forced to have
meals with professors.
There has been an upsurge in Xinjiang-linked
violence that authorities have attributed to
Uighur separatists.
In May at least 31 people were killed when two
cars crashed through an Urumqi market and
explosives were thrown. In March, a mass
stabbing at Kunming railway station killed 29
people.
In response Chinese authorities have launched a
year-long security campaign which includes
increased police and troop presence in key cities
and towns in Xinjiang. Scores of people have
been arrested, and some sentenced to lengthy
jail terms or death.