Exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday. (Yuriko Nakao/Reuters)

As China released a list Thursday of 15 people wanted in connection with ethnic violence in Xinjiang province, it dismissed claims from an exiled activist that more than 10,000 Chinese Muslims disappeared during the unrest.

U.S.-based Uighur dissident Rebiya Kadeer alleged on Wednesday that thousands of minority Uighurs — an ethnically Turkic, predominantly Muslim group who make up the majority in the northwestern province — were unaccounted for after the worst civil riots in China in decades.

The Chinese government, which has alleged the July riots were orchestrated by separatists working inside and outside the country, said Thursday that Kadeer's allegations were "completely fabricated."

"How many prisons and holding cells do you think we would need in Urumqi to hold 10,000 people? She was not there that day, so she has no place to talk about what happened," said Hou Hanmin, a spokeswoman for Xinjiang's regional government.

'No proof'

"She has no proof of any of this and no matter who she tells, no one will believe her," she said.

Kadeer, 62, who was once a prominent businesswoman in Xinjiang, called for an international investigation into the 10,000 alleged disappearances during a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Kadeer has provided no explanation of how she arrived at the figure but many Uighurs reported that their families that been rounded up after the July 5 riots.

More than 1,600 people suspected of having participated in the riots have been detained, Chinese officials said Thursday.

The protests started July 5 in Urumqi when demonstrators gathered to demand justice for two Uighurs killed in June during a fight with their Han co-workers at a factory in southern China.

The demonstration turned into a riot, as armed Uighur mobs clashed with police and passersby. They also set ablaze or otherwise damaged hundreds of vehicles, stores and street vendor stalls.

15 suspects sought

In response to the riot, hundreds of Han Chinese rampaged through the city two days later with sticks and meat cleavers, looking for Uighurs and revenge.

The unrest spread to other cities in the region.

Government figures indicate 197 people died and more than 1,700 were wounded in the riots.

The Urumqi Public Security Bureau issued a notice on Thursday calling for the public's help in finding 15 more people who are suspected of having played a major role in the violence.

The Associated Press reported that 14 names on the list are believed to be Uighurs while the 15th is a Han Chinese name.

The notice urged the suspects to turn themselves in, saying that those who did so within 10 days would "be dealt with leniently."

"The ones who refuse to turn themselves in will be dealt with severely according to the law," the notice said.

With files from The Associated Press