Thousands of Muslims of Uygur ethnic group on Friday attended a weekly prayer and prayed for peace in the border city of Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

It was the first Friday prayer, or known as Jumu'ah in Uygur language, after Sunday's riot in the Xinjiang regional capital of Urumqi that left 184 people dead.

At the Id Kah Mosque, the largest of its kind in China, about 3,000 Muslims attended the prayer with the theme of "peace and harmony."

Imam Maimaitusun Yiming, who serves one of the 180 mosques in Kashgar and preaches to hundreds of Muslims every day, said that Islam tenet prohibits hurting the innocent.

"Unfortunately, some believers interpret the Alcoran with a biased view, and commit crimes in defiance of religious principles," he said.

"That is terrible. However, they are but a few bad apples," he said.

Kashgar is an important town along the ancient Silk Road. Most of the residents are of Uygur ethnic group.

In August last year, a terrorist attack on border police in the city killed 17 officers. Almost a year past, local people have walked out of the shadow.

It was a peaceful day for Kashgar on Friday. In a major community where Uygur people are populated, various snacks of local flavor were available on stalls along the streets and people were seen chattering and bargaining in the booming market.

Jeelaf Stik, an 82-year-old Uygur retiree, told Xinhua that he was happy to live with different ethnic groups.

"Xinjiang is a common homeland for many different ethnic groups, and they have been living side by side happily for most of the time in history," Jeelaf said with a smile on his reddish wrinkled face.

"I myself have close friends of Han and other ethnic groups, and that is also true for my son and daughter-in-law," he added.

Sixty-year-old retired worker Yiming Turhong echoed his views.

"My family receives 680 yuan (100 U.S. dollars) of allowance from the government a month, which helps us lead a decent life," he said.

"We enjoy our lives. People need to be thankful, don't they?" he said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2009)