[Dawn] The communist party chief of the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi was sacked on Saturday, state media said, following mass protests that left five people dead after a spate of syringe attacks, AFP reported. Top city official Li Zhi was replaced by Zhu Hailun, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting the Communist party's Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Committee but giving no reason for the sacking.
But Li presided over the city during deadly ethnic unrest between Han Chinese and Muslim Uighur residents.
Protests over the hundreds of syringe attacks began on Wednesday in the capital of Xinjiang region, where ethnic unrest in July between mainly Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese left nearly 200 people dead.
The demonstrations reached a peak Thursday when tens of thousands of people, mainly Han, poured into the streets following reports that hundreds had been stabbed with needles since mid-August.
Security remained tight as signs of normalcy returned to Urumqi on Saturday.