Uighurs flee city of strife and opportunity

(For earlier stories, click on [ID:nXINJIANG])

By Chris Buckley

URUMQI, China, July 10 (Reuters) - The crush of bus passengers leaving the strife-hit capital of far-west China's Xinjiang has become a heaving, sweating testament to Muslim Uighurs' volatile bond with a land of jobs and opportunity.

The South Long-Distance Bus Station in Urumqi has been crowded with thousands leaving after Uighur rioters killed 156 people and wounded 1,080 on Sunday. Han Chinese, the country's predominant ethnic group, struck back with acts of mob violence on Tuesday, but security forces have now gained control.

Many in the waiting crowd that spilled outside the station into the sunshine said they were fleeing after days hiding in fear. But many said also Han-dominated Urumqi was much richer and better-serviced than their dusty hometowns, and still represented the best hopes for them to escape hardship and joblessness.

Even as they waited for buses to Kashgar and other Uighur centres to the south, some seemed unsure if or when they would return to Urumqi, caught between fearing China's growth here but also depending on its fruits. A few said never.

"I don't want to leave my business, but I'm scared of being arrested or attacked," said Mutalifu, a clothes vendor in his 20s, fanning himself as he waited for a 24-hour ride to Kashgar.

"I've been telling my girlfriend we won't come back. But I think we will. Kashgar is home but there's no life for us there."

More than 1,000 suspected rioters have been taken into police custody for questioning.