By Sim Chi Yin, China Correspondent

BEIJING: Urban and large-scale, the deadly riots that rocked Xinjiang's capital Urumqi on Sunday night were not like previous episodes of unrest the restive region has had, according to scholars.

They said simmering home-grown economic grievances, rather than separatism, were perhaps at the root of the worst case of ethnic violence in the predominantly Muslim region in China's far west in decades.

The Chinese authorities, who have reportedly brought the situation under control, immediately blamed 'outside forces' for the unrest - just as it did after widespread protests in Tibetan areas in March last year. They accused exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer of 'masterminding' the violence.

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