Muslim separatists demanding independence for China’s westernmost region have massed in a southern Silk Road oasis to protest against Beijing rule, stirred up by recent riots in Tibet.

Officials in Khotan said that about 100 people had been detained after several hundred members of the Uighur Muslim minority staged a demonstration in a marketplace in the city on March 23. The local government gave no reason why the unrest had not been revealed for so many days, but it is not unusual for the Chinese authorities to try to prevent news of disruptions entering the public domain.

Muslim extremists trying to start a rebellion were to blame, the authorities said. “A small number of elements tried to incite splittism, create disturbances . . . and even trick the masses into an uprising.” There are 8 million Uighur Muslims among a population of 19 million in Xinjiang province. The latest sign of pro-independence unrest among ethnic minorities in China comes only weeks after Beijing revealed that it was facing a serious threat to the Olympics from terrorists among the Uighurs.

Radio Free Asia, funded by the US Government, said that several hundred Uighurs had staged a demonstration in Khotan to protest against limits on the wearing of headscarves by local women and demanding the release of political prisoners and an end to the torture of Uighurs. Fu Chao, an official with the Hotan Regional Administrative Office, said that the protest involved people who wanted to establish an Islamic nation and to separate Xinjiang from China. He said that the Government discouraged Uighur women from wearing scarves while they worked because it was inconvenient, but that the practice was accepted otherwise.

Mr Fu said that the demonstration had been incited apparently by unrest in Tibet, where anti-Chinese rioters rampaged through the capital, Lhasa, on March 14, leaving at least 18 people dead. Sources in Lhasa said yesterday that the Government had issued 11 most-wanted lists, broadcasting photographs on state television, for 69 people.

The Khotan government said that the Uighurs involved in demonstrations adhered to the “three evil forces”, a Chinese expression that refers to separatism, religious extremism and terrorism. “Our police immediately intervened to prevent this and are dealing with it in accordance with the law,” it said. Another local official said that several of those taken into custody had been released after being “educated”.

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