Urumqi, September 05: China’s official Xinhua News Agency says the Communist Party chief of the western city of Urumqi has been fired after five people died in protests over a series of hypodermic needle attacks.
Xinhua did not give a reason for the Li Zhi’s removal on Saturday. But protesters have called for his resignation, amid anger at poor security in the city.
The needle attacks, that authorities have blamed on Muslim separatists, have unnerved the city amid fears of a renewed outbreak of communal violence after ethnic rioting two months ago left nearly 200 people dead.
–Agencies