Alim Seytoff, general secretary of the Uighur American Association, added that he feared the toll was more than the three dead reported by Beijing.

Seytoff strongly disputed Beijing's assertion that rioters attacked members of the Han majority, saying Uighur students held a peaceful protest in the northwestern city of Urumqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang region.

The Xinjiang University students were seeking the arrest of suspects behind an ethnically charged brawl late last month at a factory in southern China that left two Uighurs dead, Seytoff said.

"These young Uighurs peacefully took to the streets but more than 1,000 armed Chinese police came out," Seytoff told AFP.

"What we were told is that they began to shoot indiscriminately," Seytoff said.

"More than three were killed, but we don't know how many. Hundreds of others were injured."

The exiled Uighur group released pictures and footage on the video-sharing website YouTube purporting to show a heavy-handed police response.

One video shows a large crowd marching and chanting on a street as cars honk their horns in support. In another, plumes of smoke rise from a building as what sound like gunshots are heard.

One photo distributed by the exiled movement appears to show six bodies on the ground on a dark street. Another photo shows three people lying on the ground in what seems like a different location.

One close-up picture shows a man with a stream of blood coming from his head.

Seytoff, who said he was in contact with Urumqi residents, said Chinese authorities had turned off lights in part of the city and were entering dormitories.

"They are doing a door-to-door search and arresting those Uighurs who were part of this peaceful protest," Seytoff said.

Seytoff is also spokesman for the World Uighur Congress, led by Washington-based exile Rebiya Kadeer, which Chinese authorities accused of involvement in the unrest.

Seytoff said the Chinese account was "an absolute mischaracterization" aimed at justifying a police crackdown.

China's official Xinhua news agency said that Uighur rioters had "illegally gathered" downtown and went on a spree of smashing and looting. Xinhua said that three people were dead and that they were Han Chinese.

But Seytoff said the protesters sought justice over the factory brawl and also wanted China "to treat the Uighurs with respect for their language, their culture and their way of life."

"Their key demand is that the Chinese government give up its brainwashing of the Chinese people into racism against the Uighurs as enemies," he said.

The US State Department in its most recent report said China has stepped up political and religious repression of the Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim people.

China says it is trying to reduce the income gap between Xinjiang and coastal regions by encouraging companies in the country's manufacturing hubs to hire Uighurs.

On June 26, a brawl broke out at a factory making toys in Shaoguan, in the southern province of Guangdong. Chinese state media said authorities broke up the fight and pledged to find the perpetrators.

But Uighur protesters said no one has been punished over the incident, which Seytoff said was set off by rumors of Uighurs raping Chinese women.

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