China: Uighur riots 'premeditated'

The Chinese government has acknowledged for the first time that police killed 12 people during July 5 unrest in western China but put the blame squarely on rioters, saying they stockpiled weapons and planned synchronised attacks on targets across the city of Urumqi.

The unrest began on July 5 when police in Urumqi intervened on a peaceful protest by Muslim Uighurs, who went on a rampage, smashing windows, burning cars and beating Han Chinese, the nation’s dominant ethnic group.