From BBC News:
Security was tight as the Olympic torch began passing through China’s mainly Muslim Xinjiang region, on a highly sensitive part of its trip to Beijing.
Police were out in force as the flame left People’s Square in the capital, Urumqi, on its run around the city.
The torch will spend three days in the region, which is home to around eight million Muslim Uighur people.
Ties between Chinese authorities and the Uighurs are tense. Officials fear separatists could target the relay.
Read also Olympic torch arrives in China’s west by AP.