Central Asia Uighurs harbor revenge for Xinjiang kinfolk

ALMATY (Reuters) - His voice echoing inside a small blue-domed mosque, Mukhametzhar-haji speaks angrily about what he describes as China's brutality against his fellow Uighur Muslims in the riot-hit region of Xinjiang.

"Here in Kazakhstan everyone was furious when we heard about the murder of our people there," he said, stroking his white beard as he sat barefoot on the carpeted floor of the mosque.

"Many of our people, especially those who served in the army in places like Afghanistan, were ready to rush to their rescue. But we can't just grab weapons and go. It's not our way."

Perched on a dusty street corner in Kazakhstan's biggest city Almaty, the mosque is one of many pockets of Uighur life scattered around the former Soviet republic -- home to the biggest Uighur community outside China.

As clashes between Uighurs and Han Chinese erupted in July in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi -- just a day's drive from Almaty -- many of Kazakhstan's 300,000 Uighurs found themselves torn between anger and despair for their kinfolk across the border.

Emotions ran so high that community elders said they had to urge restraint among younger Uighurs longing for revenge.

In Xinjiang's worst ethnic violence in decades, 192 people died in clashes this month which China said were orchestrated by Uighur separatists. About 1,000 people have been detained.

"If our people here had any weapons available they would have gone there in no time to help their brothers," said Malik Vasilov, a 40-year-old man who came to the mosque to pray.

"Some people were ready to go. But we do not want violence so we stopped them. We are not separatists. We just want independence. But I feel things are getting out of control. Further bloodshed might be unavoidable."

World Uighur Congress, a Uighur group in exile accused by China of backing extremists demanding an independent East Turkestan state, says it endorses only peaceful methods.

While officially welcoming their presence, Kazakhstan is wary of Uighurs' pro-independence bid and sees them as a potential source of instability. Dwarfed by Beijing's economic might, Kazakhstan cannot afford to criticize China's actions.

Uighurs keep a low profile in Almaty and live in compact settlements complete with their own mosques, cafes and, often, groups of elderly men debating politics on roadside benches.

Many of them have relatives across the border and trade is brisk as truckloads of Chinese goods arrive daily in Kazakhstan, an oil-rich nation seen by China as a source of new energy.

Stories detailing China's crackdown quickly trickled into Kazakhstan via this busy trading route which snakes along the ancient Silk Road that used to connect China with Europe.

One Uighur witness, who was in Urumqi on business during the riots, broke down emotionally as he described what he saw.

"I saw how soldiers beat up Uighurs, everyone. We saw how they loaded dead bodies onto trucks," he said, holding his hands over his face. "What I saw was very frightening."

INDEPENDENCE

A Turkic people with strong links to Central Asia, Uighurs came to Kazakhstan en masse over the last two centuries following several failed bids to set up an independent state.

Despite sharing a similar cultural heritage, they have tense relations with the local population in Central Asia, a multi-ethnic region where Uighurs ran a vast empire of their own more than a millennia ago.

About eight million of them now live in China and a further half a million are scattered around Central Asia. Many of them feel it is historically unfair that less populous Central Asian republics have been able to gain independence.

Itself run by an authoritarian leadership, Kazakhstan has not allowed any pro-Uighur rallies and, afraid that violence could spill over the border, has restricted travel to Xinjiang.

"We are not indifferent to events in China," said a Kazakh foreign ministry spokesman. "We appeal for urgent stabilization but at the same time it's China's internal affair."

Since the Uighur riots in early July, talk of more clashes has spread in Central Asia, a vast region where a surge in violence in Afghanistan has already raised fears of broader instability.

Abdulla Tursun, a Uighur activist in Almaty who asked Reuters to quote him under an assumed name because he feared repercussions from the authorities, said tensions were high.

"Everything has been stirred up by these events," Tursun said, his fists clenched nervously on his knees.

"Lots of people want to do something, like a protest. Some young people were ready to go and beat up Chinese traders at a local market for revenge. We stopped them of course."

Other communities appeared more relaxed. In the village of Shonzhy near the Chinese border, residents said relations between Uighurs and Han Chinese had always been good and accused the communist government of stoking tension.

"Our family always had Chinese neighbors. They are a peaceful people," said Baratzhan, 68, who moved to Kazakhstan from Xinjiang in 1956. "The government is to blame."

(Additional reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; editing by Philippa Fletcher)