CHINA.WIRE
China to raze Kadeer kin's homes: Uighur group
 BEIJING, Aug 20 (AFP) Aug 20, 2009
 Relatives of exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer living in China's restive Xinjiang region have been told to leave their homes, which will then be demolished, a US-based activist group said Thursday.

Chinese authorities have blamed Kadeer, who lives in the United States, for inciting unrest between Uighurs and Han Chinese in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi last month that left nearly 200 people dead and more than 1,600 injured.

The family had survived on income from a restaurant at the Akida Trade Centre since 1999 when Kadeer was jailed in China, the Uighur American Association said.

More than 30 of her family members lived above the restaurant.

"Government officials told (family members) the Kadeer Trade Centre, the Akida Trade Centre, and a third, smaller building, all former properties of the Kadeer family, will be demolished soon," it said in a statement.

Kadeer's "children, grandchildren, and siblings... have been ordered by Chinese government authorities to leave their homes in (the) trade centre," it added.

The 62-year-old mother of 11 was once a successful businesswoman in Xinjiang, but was jailed for "leaking state secrets" and forced into exile to the United States upon her release in 2005.

The two trade centres are located in the Rebiya Building, a landmark in Urumqi's Uighur district that was once part of her business empire.

A spokeswoman surnamed Ma at Urumqi's Tianshan district government, where the building is located, told AFP by phone she was "not authorised to release information" about the reported eviction.

And calls to phone numbers listed for the building were not answered Thursday.

Kadeer, head of both the World Uighur Congress and the Uighur American Association, denies Chinese allegations that she was involved in the Urumqi unrest.

"While I have condemned all violence, the Chinese government has demonised me in the official media to convince millions of Chinese people that I am just like Osama bin Laden," Kadeer said in the statement.

"How long will the Chinese government hold my children and grandchildren hostage in retaliation for my human rights advocacy?"

Two of Kadeer's sons are currently in Chinese prisons.

The mainly Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang claim they have suffered political and religious persecution since Chinese troops "liberated" the vast region 60 years ago.