Police in Urumqi say they have detained another 319 people in connection with the deadly riot of July 5 in the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The arrests are in addition to the 253 detentions police announced on July 29.

Before that, more than 1,000 suspects had been detained by July 6, the second day of the violence.

A police spokesman would not say how many of the detainees were released, and he declined to give more information other than that on a press release issued Sunday.

The statement from the Urumqi Public Security Bureau said the 319 people had been detained after information was received from the public or obtained through the police investigation.

The suspects would face charges in connection with the riot that left 197 people dead, said the statement.

"They were arrested in Urumqi or in other parts of Xinjiang," it said.

Days after the violence, the public security departments of Xinjiang and Urumqi issued a notice urging local people to turn in suspects who were still at large.

"Every suspect, without any exception, will be arrested and punished according to the law to root out any hidden danger," it said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2009)