Death penalty in Xinjiang for China Tiananmen crash

The crash killed five people and left another 38 injured

Three people have been given death sentences over a fatal car crash in Tiananmen Square last October.

The men were convicted in Xinjiang province for a "violent terror attack", state media said. The car hit tourists before catching fire, killing five.

Reports said at least two of the men appeared to be from the Muslim Uighur population, which Beijing accuses of waging a violent separatist campaign.

China also executed 13 people on Monday for "terrorist attacks", reports said.

State-run news agency Xinhua reported that the three men sentenced on the Tiananmen crash - Husanjan Wuxur, Yusup Umarniyaz and Yusup Ahmat - were guilty of "organising and leading a terrorist group and endangering public security".

Five others were given jail sentences for "participating in a terrorist group" and endangering security.

In October, a car crashed into a crowd in Tiananmen Square and burst into flames, killing two tourists - one Chinese and one from the Philippines - and injuring 38 other people.

Three people who were in the car also died.

Some reports at the time quoted officials as saying it was a suicide attack. But other police officials said the authorities had been chasing the car.

'String of attacks'

Separately, 13 people were executed over "terrorist attacks and violent crimes" in Xinjiang, Xinhua reported.

Those executed were involved in seven cases, Xinhua said, without providing further details.

Uighurs have been blamed this year for a string of attacks around China.

Uighur leaders accuse the authorities in Beijing of repression, but deny that they are co-ordinating a terrorist campaign.

Chinese media also reported that three men wielding knives burst into a gaming hall in Hotan, Xinjiang, and attacked a group of people playing chess on Sunday afternoon. Four people were hurt.

Two of the attackers died when confronted by armed patrolmen while the third was captured.

Beijing has also blamed attacks in Kunming and Xinjiang's Urumqi on Uighur separatists.

At least 31 people were killed and more than 90 suffered injuries in May when two cars crashed through an Urumqi market and explosives were tossed into the crowd.

It followed a bomb and knife attack at Urumqi's south railway station in April, which killed three and injured 79 others, and a mass knife attack in Kunming, south-west China, which killed 29 and left more than 130 injured.

The authorities have since tightened security in Xinjiang and launched what they call an "anti-terrorism campaign".