Olympics Threatened By Islamic Separatists

A Muslim separatist group yesterday claimed responsibility for a series of fatal explosions in several Chinese cities and threatened to target the Olympic Games, due to begin on 8 August.

Chinese officials dismissed video statements by spokesmen claiming to represent the little-known Turkestan Islamic Party, who warned that they would attack next month's Games and said they were to blame for the previous blasts. A US terrorism-monitoring firm published a transcript of their video.

The Chinese authorities have repeatedly alleged that extremists from the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang - known as East Turkestan by separatists among the Uighur Muslim population - were targeting the Olympics. Officials have blamed the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and, more recently, Hizb ut-Tahrir for plots. The AFP news agency quoted intelligence analysts Stratfor as saying the Turkestan Islamic Party was another name for ETIM.

During the last fortnight alone, Chinese officials claimed they had cracked a plot to attack a football venue in Shanghai and had broken up 12 terrorist cells in Xinjiang. In addition to stationing a 100,000-strong anti-terrorist force in Beijing, a security drive has been launched in Xinjiang.

Last week explosives detectors were said to have been installed at airports in Xinjiang, and there were reports that two Muslims convicted of terrorism had been executed in Kashgar, while 15 others were jailed.

But the state news agency Xinhua yesterday dismissed the video claims, saying the details of one incident were wrong, that there was no record of a factory explosion in Guangzhou on 17 July, and that two bus explosions were not linked to terrorism.

The group claimed to have used a tractor laden with explosives to target police in the city of Wenzhou on 17 July, killing 17 people. But officials claimed the attack took place two months earlier, no police were involved, and that a disgruntled gambler was to blame. Revenge attacks are relatively common in China.

'Nonsense! The explosion totally had nothing to do with terrorist groups,' said Chen Shichun, head of the Wenzhou municipal public security bureau.

Shanghai officials said the bus blast which killed three people in May was unrelated to terrorism. In the Yunnan province, the public security bureau said there was no evidence of a terrorist link to two bus explosions which killed two people on Monday.

The monitoring firm IntelCenter has published a transcript of the video and a still showing three masked men, but has not released the video itself. The company could not be contacted yesterday.

It quoted the group's leader, Commander Seyfullah, as saying: 'Despite the Turkestan Islamic Party's repeated warnings to China and international community about stopping the 29th Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese have haughtily ignored our warnings. The Turkestan Islamic Party volunteers who had gone through special preparations have started urgent actions. Our aim is to target the most critical points related to the Olympics. We will try to attack Chinese central cities severely, using the tactics that have never been employed.'

He urged spectators and athletes - 'particularly the Muslims' - not to attend the Games, adding: 'Please do not stand together with the faithless people.'

Earlier this year the Ministry of Public Security said it had disrupted two plots to attack the Olympics. It claimed one group had been planning to kidnap athletes, foreign journalists and other visitors, while a second had been manufacturing explosives and was plotting to attack hotels, government offices and military targets in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities, on the orders of ETIM.

In a separate incident, the authorities blamed Uighur separatists for an alleged hijack attempt on a passenger flight.