UNITED AIRLINES SET TO CAUSE FINANCIAL TURBULENCE

A move tomorrow by embattled United Airlines is likely to raise ticket prices for thousands of fliers -- and steal planeloads of business from travel agents.

United, which is expected to post a second-quarter loss of about $350 million when it reports this week, and is looking to conserve cash, will stop processing credit-card transactions for certain travel agencies on Monday.

That means those agencies will have to start paying the 3.5 percent credit card processing fees that UAL currently absorbs -- $17.50 on a $500 ticket -- a cost that will likely be passed on to customers.

Jennifer Wilson, co-owner of New York's Wilson Travel, which will not be impacted by United's move, said, "I think it is a huge deal. If they do it, odds are other airlines will follow."

Half of airline tickets are now purchased through the country's roughly 18,000 travel-agency locations.

Fliers could avoid the possible added cost by going to United's Web site, a move that would nonetheless siphon business away from travel agents.

In the metro area, UAL has the biggest presence at JFK where it flies to and from the West Coast.

The move by United is being called a pilot program and comes at a time American Express is considering holding back a larger percentage of UAL's charges. AmEx wants to make sure that if UAL goes bankrupt it can refund unused tickets without taking a loss.

Chris Russo, president of the American Society of Travel Agents, explained that when Delta in the 1990s started cutting off commissions for travel agencies it set a precedent, and soon every other carrier followed suit. The same scenario played out for passengers with baggage fees.

A UAL spokeswoman said the move will impact a very small percentage of travel agencies. She said she could not address long-term plans as UAL is a public company.

She added that UAL is taking this action as a performance-related penalty against specific travel agencies.

Carriers across the industry have the incentive to boost short-term earnings.

American Airlines last week reported what Credit Sights analyst Roger King described as dismal numbers, with revenue dropping 23 percent compared to last year.

Local Congressional representatives Carolyn McCarthy and Nydia Velazquez joined 16 others last week in sending a letter to UAL asking them to postpone the move.

DIY sex disease test kit

EVERY 18 to 24-year-old is to be offered an annual check against sex disease chlamydia - with a FREE DIY test kit.

The massive programme is being rolled out across the country after warnings that the disease is becoming an epidemic among teenagers.

Under the scheme more than five million young people are being sent the kits.

All they have to do is provide a urine sample, send it off and wait for the result by text message, email or letter. Previously teenagers were only offered tests when they went to their doctor.

Initiatives such as offering kits to young people at nightclubs failed.

Other schemes offered lottery prizes including iPods, holidays and even cash incentives if they took tests. But too few young people knew about the scheme or took up the offers.

Now they are all receiving a letter and a free testing kit. At the moment, fewer than ten per cent of young people have taken tests for the disease.

Last year only 400,000 were tested out of a potential four million.

And the latest technology means that the samples can be checked in less than 30 minutes.

Chlamydia is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection. At least one in ten sexually active under-25s will have chlamydia and may not know it because most people do not show any symptoms. But it can make women INFERTILE if it is not treated by a course of antibiotics.

Infection rates have grown by 150 per cent in the past year alone.

Major advertising campaigns in cinemas and on television have failed to get youngsters to take precautions or get tested.

Now Ministers hope they will be able to double the number of young people being tested by the end of the year.

Michael Jackson murder charges in days

THE death of Michael Jackson is to become a MURDER investigation, the News of the World can reveal.

An autopsy on the superstar has shown he died from an injected overdose of heavy-duty painkiller Diprivan.

Police have told his family they will press charges against one or more people within DAYS and there will be a criminal TRIAL.

It could involve whoever administered the injection and anyone who made it available to the star.

Last week La Toya Jackson told the News of the World she knew who had murdered her brother.

Yesterday's astonishing development was revealed by Terry Harvey, a long-time friend of the Jackson family, in an exclusive interview with us.

Terry said: "The autopsy shows that Michael died of a drug overdose with Diprivan and a range of pills in his stomach. He had needle marks on his neck and all over his body.

"The authorities have told the family the Drug Enforcement Administration are pushing for a criminal charge.

"It is likely to be second-degree murder, due to the actions which led to his death. They have been assured that someone, or maybe more than one person, will be brought to trial.

"The family are working with the DEA and Los Angeles Police Department to work out which doctor prescribed Michael these drugs and how far back this serious problem runs."

Michael Jackson's family friend Terry Harvey reveals all

Terry also revealed that as soon as the murder inquiry is announced the Jacksons intend to SUE AEG, the promoters behind Jacko's planned London O2 comeback shows, for £30million for "wrongful death".

The family, headed by father Joe, say its bosses failed in their duty of care towards Jacko and could have saved his life.

Feeding

Respected music promoter Terry, currently working with girlband TLC, said: "The family is speaking about whether there is enough evidence to take a private lawsuit against the promoters or the doctors involved.

"Once the criminal charges are announced, the family will file for a wrongful death lawsuit.

"Joe Jackson has made no secret of his efforts to step in to get Michael to rehab while he prepared for his London shows. The question is how much did the concert organisers know about his drug problems and who was feeding him the drugs?

"I can see Joe filing a lawsuit against anyone who is found to have caused fatal harm to his beloved son.

"He and the rest of the family are serious about getting to the bottom of his son's death and insists it's foul play. It's no secret that AEG appointed a doctor to look after Michael's welfare."

The company have claimed they did everything they could to help Jacko prepare for the 50-date tour. AEG's representatives have always insisted Jacko was fit, healthy and in "great shape" during his rehearsals.

Terry is also the first member of Jackson's inner-circle to confirm the star's horrendous, long-term addiction to prescription drugs.

He said Jacko died a JUNKIE thanks to daily injections of Diprivan (or Propofol) and another painkiller Vistaril, plus swallowing a cocktail of pills including anxiety drug Xanax, anti-depressants Prozac and Zoloft and anti-indigestion drug Prilosec.

Terry added: "Michael had a long-term drug habit. He was no different to a drug addict living in a crack house. What he wanted was served up to him. He didn't go to the stores to get his fix, it was brought to him. He started in 1984 after he got burned filming that Pepsi advert. But in recent years it spiralled out of control and he was even self-injecting.

"By the end he knew how to administer these drugs himself as he had so much medical knowledge. Now he's dead everyone is washing their hands of it. I don't believe that Michael injected himself in the neck though.

"The jury is out on everyone in his inner circle. I believe some of them actually got him drugs. These people should be thrown into jail."

Last night leading pathologist Dr Cyril Wecht backed Terry's claim that the case will become criminal.

Dr Wecht, who worked on the Anna Nicole Smith drug case, said: "If Diprivan was given to Michael Jackson, prescribed by some physician, and it was administered by him or anybody else at his home then it goes beyond negligence. The drugs need to be administered by a trained anaesthetist. It is to be given only in a hospital setting because it is susceptible to bacterial contamination.

"For all of these reasons, if any doctor prescribed Propofol for Michael Jackson to take at home himself that is gross wanton negligence which, as I understand it, is manslaughter."

Terry, who is friends with Joe Jackson and Michael's brother Tito, got close to the star's aides in his final days after agreeing to promote a one-off Jackson 5 reunion in 2010. And he is adamant that Michael needed to go to rehab before returning to the stage in London this month and begged 50-year-old Jacko's associates to let him step in.

Terry, 49, said: "I told them Michael had a drug problem. I said we need to 'get him off the junk'.

"They said my concerns were meritless and changed the subject. I didn't hear a word afterwards."

Terry told how Jacko's dad tried to get Michael to go to rehab in March.

He said: "Joe wanted to get his son cleaned up as he was so keen to do the family show deal for 2010.

"He knew he wasn't ready for these summer shows in London. Joe called him on the phone and said to Michael, 'Let's get it together. Let us help you and clean the house'. Michael said 'OK' to appease his dad but he didn't even take his words in. By that stage he was an addict.

"He still thought he was the biggest star in the world. He did what he wanted. He felt he wasn't ready to go.

"Joe went to the house at least three times to intervene, but couldn't get through to his son."

Concerned Terry even offered to take care of Jacko. He said: "I begged Joe to get me into the house. I wanted to fight off all the enablers and keep them away.

"We had suspicions who was getting him prescription pills, but it was important to stop it first and deal with them later.

"MJ needed to be looked after one-on-one. Aside from the drugs Michael knew that these shows were too much for him. He needed the money, but it was all too much too soon. I knew in his heart he didn't want to and more importantly couldn't do these shows."

Terry told how Jacko called him after the O2 shows were announced.

He said: "Michael came on the phone and said, 'I only signed up for 10 shows. I didn't sign for 50. You are gonna have to rearrange the schedule to two shows a week.' Michael could only do two shows a week due to the strain on his voice let alone the physical stress of doing two hours on stage."

Two weeks ago AEG boss Randy Phillips told the News Of The World Jacko was lazy and had turned up for just two weeks of the four months of rehearsals.

But Terry said: "The TV has been showing clips of his rehearsals and from what I can see Michael wasn't even singing live.

"He was struggling with his dance moves. I was told he had his vocals sequenced on stage so if he didn't want to sing live they just switched on the tape."

Days before his death Jackson postponed his 02 debut from July 8 to July 13 blaming the "size and scope" of the production.

Terry added: "Michael knew he had to do these shows as he was in so much debt.

"The concert company put a lot up front and wanted to get a return on their money. The shows and the pressure got bigger than he could handle.

"Michael pushed himself to the edge as he didn't want to let the fans down."

Teenager wings it with a fake airline

A TEENAGE boy from Yorkshire succeeded in persuading British aviation executives that he was a tycoon about to launch his own airline. Using the pseudonym Adam Tait, the smooth-talking 17-year-old told airport and airline executives that he had a fleet of jets.

Tait, who said he was in his twenties, even flew to Jersey to attend a 1½-hour long meeting with the director of its airport. Their talks were considered promising enough for a further meeting to be arranged, which was due to be held next week.

Other air industry bosses found themselves dealing by telephone or e-mail with Tait’s fellow executives, David Rich and Anita Dash, who proposed to launch a cut-price Channel Islands-based airline servicing most of Europe.

What no one realised was that Tait, Rich and Dash were all the same person: an aircraft buff with the gift of the gab and an overactive imagination.

His exploits are reminiscent of those of Frank Abagnale Jr, who convinced the Pan Am airline that he was a pilot while still a teenager.

The Yorkshire teenager’s six-month-long ruse, which included placing articles in industry magazines, foundered only after one publication, Airliner World, became suspicious. It started to unravel the complex network that Tait had set up of fake websites, “virtual offices” complete with a real telephone receptionist and bogus names.

Last Monday he was questioned by Essex police while trying to gain access to a 93-seater jet at Southend airport, having convinced the plane’s marketing agent that his “company” wanted to lease it.

The police, who had intervened after being tipped off by Airliner World, discovered the boy’s true identity. Although no further action was taken, his fantasy was finally grounded.

The Sunday Times has agreed not to use Tait’s real name at the request of his father, who did not know of his son’s exploits until he was contacted last week.

He said that his son suffered from a form of autism and was “a phenomenal individual who is enterprising and creative” with an ability to recall the exact detail of every airline’s flight schedules. But the autism also made his behaviour highly challenging.

“He has been passionate about aeroplanes for about two years and his whole bedroom is plastered with them,” he said.

“Before that he came within two days of bringing the US cast of High School Musical to a 300-seat theatre in Shropshire by cutting and pasting mastheads from one company to another, masquerading as this or that.

“It would have happened, except when booking the hotel some queries were thrown up. I don’t know why he did it. He is not nasty or vindictive or malicious.”

The case has parallels with that of Gary McKinnon, 43, the Asperger’s syndrome sufferer who is facing extradition to the United States, accused of hacking into the Pentagon’s computers to look for evidence of UFOs (unidentified flying objects).

Tait began his elaborate hoax by buying up websites in the name of American Global Group and Island Airways. He then approached various established airlines to ask whether they wanted to give him a franchise agreement.

He claimed that the American parent company had a readily available fleet of 12 jets of varying size. His e-mails, like his telephone patter, were impressively well informed and persuasive. Each ended with the sign-off “American Global Group, 35 Countries, 22 Languages, One Team”, followed by a list of all the states in which it supposedly had offices.

Malcolm Coupar, the commercial manager of Aurigny, the airline owned by the Guernsey government, said he and Malcolm Hart, his managing director, had conducted discussions over a period of months with Tait, who was using the name David Rich.

“Some of the things he said were the sort of things that were indicative that there might have been some substance to his claims,” said Coupar. “If they were real then there would have been opportunities for us to expand our business and that’s not the sort of thing we are going to ignore.”

Tait also made approaches, with varying levels of success, to other airlines, including Titan Airways and Aer Arann.

When he made contact with Jersey airport, his patter was convincing enough to effect a 90-minute face-to-face meeting with Julian Green, the airport’s director, who said last night: “Jersey airport can confirm it has had discussions with Adam Tait over recent weeks about an ambitious network of services between Jersey, the UK and Europe.

“As further information has come to light in recent days we can now confirm negotiations on the proposal have ceased.”

Tait gained some initial credibility with an article about his supposed airline which appeared in Airliner World.

Richard Maslen, the deputy editor, said: “We spoke to a few contacts in the industry and they had also heard whispers about this proposed start-up and as a result we ran a small news piece in the magazine.”

When Tait suggested further coverage, Maslen smelt a rat. His reporter recorded Tait talking, then played the tape to Coupar, who confirmed it was the same voice as “David Rich”.

The magazine suggested Tait do some photographs and he suggested Southend airport, where he said one of his company’s jets, a 93-seater BAe 146-200, was hangared.

Tait then contacted Airstream, the agent which markets the plane, and said his company wanted to lease it. Airstream took him at face value, even offering to pick him up and chauffeur him to the airport to inspect the plane.

The teenager’s plans were about to crash, however. Concerned about his stated intention to start up the plane’s engines, Airliner World tipped off police. Officers, who intercepted the teenager and a number of colleagues who he had brought with him, warned Airstream that Tait was using multiple names and it should have nothing further to do with him.

When confronted by The Sunday Times at his family’s home in York, Tait initially denied any wrongdoing. He later admitted that he had “done some things in a bad way”, but said he had broken no laws and insisted he still harboured ambitions to make his “aviation business” take off.

His father argued that sufferers from autism have great potential. He said of his son: “People like him are not criminals, they are just misguided — they don’t understand what they are doing. Can someone grab hold of these people and harness their energy and use them for something that could be good?

“If someone with little or no education who has extreme enterprise and talent could have his energy channelled in the right direction, what could they achieve for themselves and our country?”

Sky-high poser

Between the ages of 16 and 21, Frank Abagnale Jr posed as an airline pilot, a lawyer, a college professor and a paediatrician, fraudulently earning millions of dollars. After serving time in jail, Abagnale has since worked for 35 years as a security consultant, advising companies on fraud. His youthful exploits were made the subject of a Hollywood film, Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Taliban video of captive hits home in Idaho

For several weeks, word slowly spread through the tiny city of Hailey, Idaho, that one of their own could be the U.S. soldier captured in Afghanistan.

Then on Sunday, the face of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, 23, was splashed on TV screens across the country in excerpts of a Taliban prisoner video. Pentagon officials confirmed that the soldier in the 28-minute video was Bergdahl.

"It didn't hit a lot of people until (Sunday)," said Don Keirn, a 20-year resident of Hailey who went to college with Bergdahl's grandfather and knows the soldier's father. "You just hope to God he gets back alive and in good shape. You hope something can be worked out."

Bergdahl was serving with an Alaska-based infantry regiment at a base near the border with Pakistan in an area known to be a Taliban stronghold. Bergdahl said in the video — where he's wearing a gray outfit and has a shaved head — that he was lagging behind a patrol when he was captured, which conflicts with earlier military accounts that indicated he left the base with three Afghans.

It wasn't clear who initially captured Bergdahl, but the U.S. command in Afghanistan said he was being held by the Taliban.

"I'm glad to see he appears unharmed, but again, this is a Taliban propaganda video," spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker said. "They are exploiting the soldier in violation of international law."

Bergdahl entered the Army in June 2008, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Allen. He arrived in Afghanistan in February.

His family lives 6 miles west of Hailey in a small home on a remote gravel county road. The family has chained and locked the front gate, and a small cardboard sign says, "No visitors."

"We hope and pray for our son's safe return to his comrades and then to our family, and we appreciate all the support and expressions of sympathy shown to us by our family members, our friends and others across the nation," read a statement from the family released through the Department of Defense. "Thank you, and please continue to keep Bowe in your thoughts and prayers."

Bergdahl is the first U.S. solider captured in Afghanistan since fighting began there in 2001. In Iraq, one soldier — Army Spc. Ahmed Altaie — remains missing after he was kidnapped on his way to visit family in Baghdad, according to the Pentagon.

Before enlisting, Bergdahl worked at a coffee shop in Hailey, Zaney's River Street Coffee House, where a sign on the counter encouraged customers to keep Bergdahl in their thoughts and prayers.

"Join all of us at Zaney's holding light for our friend Bowe Bergdahl," it said.

In the video, Bergdahl said he was scared: "Scared I won't be able to go home. It is very unnerving to be a prisoner."

He choked up when discussing his family and his hope to marry his girlfriend. "I have a very, very good family that I love back home in America," he said. "And I miss them every day."

Agent sorry for mountain deaths

SAPPORO (Kyodo) Amuse-Travel Co. President Seiichi Matsushita offered a fresh apology Sunday for the deaths last week of eight hikers in bad weather on a mountain in central Hokkaido.

The Tokyo-based travel company arranged the three-day, 41.5-km hike with three guides and 15 participants. "I offer my apology from the bottom of my heart to the bereaved who lost their precious family members," Matsushita told a news conference in Shintoku, Hokkaido. "I pray that the souls of the deceased may rest in peace."

Asked whether the guides made the right decision to continue the trek despite the bad weather, Matsushita said he did not have enough information to answer the question.

But the travel agent also said one of the guides told him there was no problem with the hikers' health before they set out from a mountain hut Thursday, the day of the tragedy.

One of the hikers who made it off Mount Tomuraushi unaided spoke separately about what happened that day.

The man, who did not want his name released, said the group set out from the hut in the morning even though there were strong winds and rain.

"We left though I thought people would normally do otherwise," he said. "The tour guides did not offer an explanation about the weather forecast."

Around noon, soon after they reached the summit of Tomuraushi, the guides asked them to stay put because several people said they were ill, he recalled.

They had to wait for more than an hour and half without any explanation about what was happening, he said, adding that some people started to shriek out "I'm cold, I'm cold."

Later that day, 10 hikers and one of the guides tried to trek down the mountain, while the rest decided to camp out there, including the two other guides.

But the man, who was among those who tried to walk out, said the guide went "running down the mountain without saying anything" and did not seem to care about the people who were lagging behind.

However, other survivors told reporters they felt the guides did the best they could under difficult circumstances.

Mystery woman sought in slaying

MANILA (Kyodo) Philippine police were looking Sunday for a Filipino woman who was reportedly with a Japanese man before he was killed in northern metropolitan Manila.

The police said Katsuki Ohga, 45, received a series of text messages from Japan constantly inquiring where he was and assuring him a person he was to meet would be waiting for him.

But they stressed they still didn't not know why Ohga, a security guard in Japan, was attacked in the early hours of Saturday.

They said robbery was an unlikely motive because his valuables, including his cell phone, wallet and motorcycle, were not stolen.

Ohga had apparently waited from 4 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Friday for the Filipino woman near the public market in the town of Malabon.

Witnesses said that after the woman arrived, the two left together on Ohga's blue motorbike.

Three hours later, he was shot dead in a middle-class residential area in nearby Navotas City.

Ohta's motorcycle and a spent shell from a .45 caliber handgun were found beside his body. A bullet was lodged in his head, according to a crime scene investigator.

Police are now searching for the woman who was allegedly the reason Ohga had gone to the Philippines on July 2 with his 19-year-old Filipino wife of four months.

Ohga and his wife had apparently been quarreling over the other woman, and his wife said the woman was asking her husband for money to start a business.

She has suggested the woman may have had something to do with her husband's death.

I consider India a global power: Hillary Clinton

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke exclusively to Times Now Editor-in-Chief Arnab
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Q: It is interesting that today the mastermind of 26/11 was charge sheeted but the trial has not actually started are you concerned that trial has not started?

A: I am concerned if there is no trial and no justice for those who planned the attacks on Mumbai on 26/11. I am looking for a commitment from the countries and one that is carried forward. There must be reckoning of justice for those who have lost their lives.

Q: So, you believe that there must be a trial?

A: I believe there should be full whetting of what happened. There should be fair trail and a thorough analysis of what happened and who was behind. Countries are now understanding that terrorism is a threat to the nation, I hope that we will see full cooperation of governments against these non state actors. In this area (South Asia) there has been terrorism in every country, thus there should be sharing of workable intelligence between countries to prevent such acts.

Q: You have been asked about LeT and such groups that continue to act from Pakistan, would you put pressure using your influence to advise Pakistan to act against groups like LeT?

A: We have in our dialogue with Pakistan been very clear that it is imperative Pakistan has to go after every terror group. These groups are threats to Pakistan as well. These groups are no longer working alone, now they are part of a criminal syndicate. No terrorist group can be left alone, everyone must be acted against.

Q: Secretary would you link aid given to Pakistan to tangible action against terror which would also assure India?

A: I am very proud to be in India, to deepen and strengthen our relationship; I want your viewers to know we are always stressing the counter terrorism effort in every country.

Q: Secretary when they were worries that India was being clubbed with AFPAK countries, would you see India's role as regional power in the region?

A: I consider India not only a regional power but a global power. I think India has the opportunity to resolve problems regionally and work with other nations to solve some of the global challenges. How India decides to do that is upto India. Trying to bring the understanding that India has to the table to deal with the extremist threat in Afghanistan is useful. I think that cooperation that we are building with India on counter terrorism is very good, to get India's help in our side and in what Pakistan is now doing is very welcome.

Q. Do you see any resistance from Pakistan?

A: Over the last 6 months we have seen a evolving attitude in Pak, the Army effort in Buner and Swat have been adjudged by our military leaders to be sincere and committed, there is a attitude in Pakistan today that terrorists pose a threat to them that you can't turn a blind eye to terrorism.

Q: Recently meeting between India and Pak, consensus was that India has shown maturity in de-linking terror, would you believe that Pakistan should continue its fight against terror and not stop?

A: It should be expected, I see very positive steps, India is a mature country and is able to make decisions for itself, and India is also very powerful with military capacity, if necessary. What the government is doing is finding space to eradicate poverty, increase agriculture productivity, create more jobs, the bread and butter issue that will enable India to grow. I have great deal of admiration for the difficult decision that the Government has taken.

Q: On Kashmir India believes it is a bilateral issue. Pakistan would like to see the issue internationalized. Do you see a role for the US as broker?

A: The decision has to between India and Pakistan and it must take into account feelings of people of Kashmir. Our role is not be involved other than to support the process that Indian and Pakistan may decide to enter into.

Q: There were also concerns on nuke deal, is the deal conditional in any way linked to CTBT signing by India?

A: No, the civil nuke deal stands on its own merits, there are provisions which we are working to fulfill, what I am hoping in my conversation with the Indian leaders is that India can help us determine how to keep nuke material out of hands of rogue state and non-state actors hands, what is the appropriate non-proliferation programme for the future, India has capacity to determine where it wants to go in this particular case, the Prime Minister's envoy for non-proliferation had said India wants to contribute to solve problem, which I am interested in.

Nuke deal is not hostage, I was chair of the Indo-America caucus and worked hard for passage for nuke deal, I am committed to its full implementation, what we see as proliferation in place like North Korea and Iran the efforts of terrorist to get nukes, I want to explore what we can do to prevent that.

Q: You come back to India often, there seems to some special bond you share and that you are staying at Taj?

A: I chose to stay at Taj. I wanted to send message that I and my country is in solidarity with guest of Taj who were injured and people of Mumbai. Really as a rebuke to the terrorists who did not destroy the spirit, I am attracted to India, this is my fourth trip, something about dynamism of people, their dedication to democracy which is an inspiration to me. It is a feeling in my heart that makes me feel privileged to be here, I also love the food and I have many friends here.

We will come with the family to walk the street and spend time with people not on a busy schedule like this.

Q: We have seen you in many roles lawyer, first lady and now secretary of state, what next after a few years?

A: Retirement, but probably along lines of what we did I started out as advocate for women and children promote ideals of equality and opportunity be a voice of the voiceless. It's a great tragedy to see that there are people who could have been great doctors but never got educated and never got the chance, I would expand the opportunity for people to make decision that will contribute to the nation.

12 mobsters in Urumqi riot shot dead

URUMQI: A senior official of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region said Saturday Xinjiang has the confidence to erase the negative impacts of the July 5 riot "in the shortest time" in an interview with overseas reporters.

Nur Bekri, chairman of the regional government, also said in the interview that on the night of July 5, policemen in the regional capital Urumqi "resolutely" shot 12 mobsters after firing guns into the air had no effects on these "extremely vicious" thugs.

Three of them died on the spot while nine died after failing treatment.


"The police showed as much restraint as possible during the unrest. Many of them were injured and a 31-year-old officer was killed. He was hit by mobsters in the head with a stone," said Nur Bekri.

He added that many innocent people were injured in the head by thugs with iron rods, stones and bricks. Knives were also used.

According to the official, the riot has left a total of 197 people dead, and most of them were innocent residents.

Nur Bekri admitted that they had never expected a student parade could turn into such ferocious violence.

He said that the local government had taken timely actions to prevent emergencies as soon as they received information on the students' plan.

"But we could never imagine that the mobsters were so extremely vicious and inhumane... We really didn't expect that," he said, referring to thugs entering small alleys and lanes to attack innocent people.

He said that these perpetrators had prepared many weapons such as rods, stones and took actions in various places at the same time, which experts said was similar to the terrorist attacks that occurred in other countries recently.

Nur Bekri said as the local situation is becoming more stable, "it won't be long" before the Internet was completely reopened to the public.

He said that during the riot, the Internet and cell phone messages became the main communication methods for mobsters, and it was necessary for the government to shut down the Internet to stabilize people's emotions and restore social order.

He pointed out this is a measure all countries in the world would adopt in similar situations.

Currently some professional websites are already accessible in the region, he added.