BEIJING - At least 129 people were killed in in rioting by a Muslim ethnic group in China's far west, state media said Monday.

An initial investigation showed the violence was masterminded by the separatist World Uighur Congress led by Rebiya Kadeer," the government said in a statement, according to Xinhua.

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Violence in China's restive western region of Xinjiang has left at least 140 people dead and more than 800 people injured, state media say.

Several hundred people have also been arrested after the violence erupted in the city of Urumqi on Sunday.

Xinhua news agency said police restored order after demonstrators attacked passers-by and set fire to vehicles.

The government has blamed separatist Uighurs based abroad for orchestrating attacks on majority ethnic Han Chinese.

Uighur exiles said police had fired indiscriminately on a peaceful protest. An overnight curfew was imposed.

'Foreign plot'

Eyewitnesses said the violence started on Sunday with a few hundred people, and grew to more than 1,000.

Xinhua says the protesters carried knives, bricks and batons, smashed cars and stores, and fought with security forces.

Uighur groups insisted a peaceful protest had become victim to state violence.

The Xinjiang government has blamed the latest unrest on businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer, the Uighurs' leader who is living in exile in the United States.

"An initial investigation showed the violence was masterminded by the separatist World Uighur Congress led by Rebiya Kadeer," the government said in a statement, according to Xinhua.

It said the violence had been "instigated and directed from abroad".

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in China says Xinjiang, a mainly Muslim area, has been a source of tension for many years.

Some of its Uighur population of about eight million, want to break away from China, and its majority Han Chinese population.

The authorities say police are securing order across the region and anyone disrupting order will be detained and punished.