"The Kashi Prefecture government has ordered the rebuilding and restoration of all mosques destroyed by the earthquake in the region, which totaled more than 400," said Zhang Minggong, secretary of the Bachu County Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

On Feb. 24, a devastating earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale jolted the Kashi region in western Xinjiang, killing268 people and leveling tens of thousands of buildings to the ground, including many mosques.

Islam is one of the leading religions in Xinjiang where some 11million Uygurs and people of 45 other ethnic minority groups live. Statistics show that currently there are over 23,700 mosques in the region.

According to Zhang, most of the mosques destroyed in the earthquake were either "poorly-constructed at the very beginning" or "without appropriate renovation for years".

"So far the Bachu County government has located all demolished mosques in the county and has also worked out a detailed plan for their restoration," added Zhang.

In the past half year, however, the local authorities have focused on rebuilding houses, hospitals and schools in the quake-stricken areas, to guarantee that everyone moves into new houses before winter and enjoys proper medical service, and that the children go back to school when a new semester begins nationwide on Sept. 1.

"Now that the people's lives have largely returned to normal, it's time for the government to turn to facilitating their normal religious activities," explained Zhang.

Local sources said that since the earthquake, many Muslims in the regions where the mosques had collapsed had to stay at home or go to makeshift sites for their five-time-a-day prayers and other religious rituals.

In Yopurga County of Kashi Prefecture, the local government has put 54 quake-destroyed mosques on the reconstruction list, with a budget of some 30,000 yuan (US$3,600) each.

"The construction is already underway and is expected to be completed before Oct. 15," said Arkin, director of the Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs under the county government.

The government had consulted local religious figures about the reconstruction project, said Abdusupur Mahesumaji, the Senior Mullah of the local Grand Mosque.

"As Kashi is located in a quake-prone region, all the new mosques will use earthquake-proof materials and adopt a quake-resistant structure, to guarantee the safety of Muslims visiting them," said the Mullah.

He added that when the new mosques were all built, the local people's need for religious activities would certainly be fully met. "We're quite satisfied with it," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2003)