Central Asia evacuates citizens from riot-torn Xinjang

By Maria Golovnina

ALMATY (Reuters) - China's western neighbours Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan said on Thursday they were evacuating their citizens from the restive region of Xinjiang following days of ethnic rioting against Chinese rule.

Clashes between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese have left 156 people dead and 1,080 wounded since Sunday in a region where the Uighur minority has long complained about repression and discrimination.

Mainly Muslim Central Asia is home to the biggest Uighur community outside China, but despite sharing a similar linguistic and cultural heritage, they have traditionally uneasy relations with the local population.

Central Asian governments, while officially welcoming their presence, are wary of what they see as Uighur aspirations to set up their own independent state between China and Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan, home to 300,000 Uighurs, said it had brought back more than 1,200 citizens from the riot-hit region about 800 km (500 miles) from its financial capital, Almaty.

Central Asia, a region divided among five nations run by authoritarian leaders, is worried the latest violence may spill over into its ethnically diverse territory and has largely supported China's position on the Uighur issue.

"What is happening there is China's internal affair," said a Kazakh foreign ministry spokesman.

No protests have been reported on the Central Asian side of the border -- a thinly populated stretch of barren land.