China Says It Foiled Olympic Kidnap Plot

Country Claims "Violent Terrorist Gang" Planned To Abduct Athletes, Carry Out Bombings

(CBS/AP)  China said Thursday it had uncovered a new plot targeting the Beijing Olympics, saying a "violent terrorist gang" had planned to kidnap athletes and others and carry out suicide bombings.

The Public Security Ministry's announcement marks at least the second claim by Beijing of a terrorist threat conspiracy centered on the August games, both of them linked to ethnic Uighur Muslim separatists in the far western Xinjiang region.

Ministry spokesman Wu Heping provided no photographic or physical evidence, but said the plotters were based in Xinjiang, and were led by a man identified as Abdulrahman Tuersun.

In all, 35 people, including Tuersun and another man, Kuerban Mutalifu, were arrested between March 26 and April 6, Wu said.

"This violent terrorist gang secretly plotted to kidnap journalists, visitors and athletes during the Beijing Olympics in order to make a global impact to sabotage" the Games, Wu told reporters at a rare news conference held at a Beijing hotel. "We face a real terrorist threat."

Wu urged residents to raise their level of alertness and contact police about suspicious people or incidents.

Longstanding resentment against Chinese rule in Xinjiang has fed a simmering rebellion that in the past has included bombings, although little violence has been reported in recent years amid a massive security presence in the region.

Following the 2001 terror attacks in the United States, the communist regime has tried to portray the insurgency as linked to terrorist organizations such as al Qaida. Evidence has often been scant, and some terror experts and overseas law enforcement officials have questioned whether such ties exist.

Nicholas Bequelin, an expert on Xinjiang with the Hong Kong-based Human Rights Watch, said Beijing has undercut its credibility by consistently labeling criminal acts, anti-government violence, and peaceful dissent as terrorism.

"The experience around the world since the launch of the global war on terrorism, has taught the international community how easily threats of terrorism can be manipulated by authoritarian governments for their own purposes," Bequelin said.

Chinese authorities often don't provide evidence to back up their terror claims and allow lengthy time lapses before announcing them. Other claims have drawn heavy skepticism, including a recent charge that supporters of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, were planning attacks by "suicide squads."

Western diplomats say the government has yet to respond to requests for more information on its claims that an alleged attempt by a passenger to start a fire aboard a flight from Xinjiang last month was a terrorist act.

Most experts say the actual threat to the Beijing Games from terrorism is low, although the event has become a magnet for critics of the government, ranging from free-speech advocates to activists highlighting the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.

Wu said police confiscated almost 10 kilos (22 pounds) of AN-TNT explosive material, eight sticks of dynamite, two detonators, and "jihadist" literature in the recent raids in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital.

He said the gang hatched the Olympic plot in November and traveled through Xinjiang last month seeking recruits, including those skilled in weapons and explosives.

They also sought fanatics to carry out suicide bomb attacks in Urumqi and other Chinese cities, Wu said. He didn't say whether any volunteers had been found or whether any attacks were imminent, but said police decided to "neutralize the threat" after collecting sufficient evidence.

Wu also provided further details on another ring uncovered in January, saying they had been manufacturing explosives and were plotting to attack hotels, government offices and military targets in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities.

Wu said 10 men, led by a man named Aji Maimaiti, had been arrested and confessed to acting on orders from a radical Islamic Xinjiang independence group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, to prepare attacks targeting the Olympics. East Turkestan is another name for Xinjiang.

While the United States has labeled ETIM a terrorist organization, the U.S. State Department also alleges widespread abuses of the legal and educational systems by the communist authorities to suppress Uighur culture and religion.

[guadalcanal3]

So taddles...What makes you think that they ''didn''t'' stop a terrorist event?..I think you are ''assuming'' that the Chinese Government is lying and totally ''making up'' this story..how do you know?...So what are we supposed to do now?...believe in you...and your theory???

[taddles-2009]

"All of you ''''sieg heil'''' idiots just don''''t get it...I say good for the Chinese government for eliminating this particular terrorist plot...This action saved a lot of innocent people..and that''''s the bottom line.

Posted by guadalcanal3 at 09:57 PM : Apr 10, 2008"


LOL, you really think they stopped a "terrorist plot"??? You think China would tell the world something like that when they claim to have terrorism under control? That would imply that the Chinese government does not have terrorism under control and they certainly aren''t going to tell the world something like that.

This is BS put out by the Chinese Gov''t to cover up another brutal crack down on dissidents. They do this same thing every time they jump on human rights protesters. For f**ks sake, they shut down the media in the Tienanmen square incident, slaughtered several thousand civilian pro-democracy activists in the streets and then claimed nothing happened.

You really think the Chinese Government would ever tell the truth about anything??? They never have before why would they start now?

[yongamerica]

With so little facts and the fact the Chinese government considers a peaceful protest an act of terror, what is there to say. More Propaganda? Or a calamity squelched?

[pugster]

This is the ''Chinese Propaganda'' that the western TV don''t you to see. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z_prFMROC8&

[apprxam]

China...except for Darfur, Tibet, China and Vancouver, BC; defenders of freedom, securitors of.......securiness!

[rushlimpdrug]

whatever china.

[pugster]

I find it funny that some of these protestors for ''Free Tibet'' don''t even know where Tibet is. Just go to youtube and search for ''where is tibet''

[leighg1]

I was so disappointed at the media. We were there yesterday to support the Olympic Torch Relay in San Fransisco. There were at least TWICE or THREE or even FOUR times as many supporters as protesters. But all the media only reported "massive protest"! Come on! We were there to protect the torch, NOT protest!
So frustrated!

[pugster]

Seriously, China has taken critism over the years for the so they can take a couple of months more. The mounting critism by the US and UN didn''t convience countries like Iran and North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program. So don''t expect China will change its stance until they stop critizing and start having talks. BTW, it was China''s Negotations and not the US''s critism that convienced North Korea stop their Nuclear Program last year.

[guadalcanal3]

All of you ''sieg heil'' idiots just don''t get it...I say good for the Chinese government for eliminating this particular terrorist plot...This action saved a lot of innocent people..and that''s the bottom line.

[sharncedar]

Ok let''s not get hysterical. The current Chinese rulers are trying to modernize, they have serious intentions. The problems in Tibet come from cultural differences; the behavior of the Chinese government is correct when dealing with ethnic Chinese, it just isn''t right in Tibet.

China is in the unfortunate position of suddenly become a world power without any time to learn how to manage it. It is a confusing thing for them, I suppose.

Let''s not go nuts though, they are not some kind of evil people or something.

[heraldtkel]

China is the new enemy. Come learn and understand. www.theoandavirus.com

[sharncedar]

Walt''s post was pretty good, I thought. It''s funny how emperor Bush and Emperor what''s-his-name of China are using the same playbook. Actually, all oppression is depressingly alike. Mugabe is using the same tired claims, Saddam Hussein always used the security of the state and supposed "rebellions" as excuses for his murders.

any infamous act or arbitrary act in the name of some unnameable "security" - the Chinese will use this to death, literally to death (of many Tibetans and other undesirables).

We are going to hear this fake cry of "terrorism" and "state security" from now until the pathetic Genocide Olympics finally end.

[jolievie]

Chinese gov. is a hiporite and lier. Let see how much freedom when you want to watch the Olympic. The Olympic should never reward to coward place like China, chao should be expected.

[walt1944-2009]

The RED Chinese have apparently figured that what has worked for the Great Emperor Bush and the neocon Fascist Nazi GOP Party for the past 8 years, can work for them too!

To "deflect" public attention from China''s repression in Tibet, the Chinese are finding dozens of "terrrrorists" trying to destroy the Olympic Games by kidnapping atheletes tennis shoes and using suicide bombers to blow up concession stands selling bowls of rice!

The Chinese are claiming that the culprits are a "fanatical group of Muslims" from some obscure province undoubedtly having ties to Al Qeada and Osama Bin Laden (remember him?). The Chinese government has "rounded up the usual suspects" together with anyone unlucky enough to be walking by!

The Great Emperor Bush II hails this action by the Chinese government as another victory for the forces of "law and order (and repression)" against those pesky "terrrrrrrrrorrrists" who are everywhere and waiting to destroy us all! The Great Emperor is supported in this praise by John "The Great Pretender" McCain who hopes to visit China and learn how to use chopsticks!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
sig heil, (more of the same) McCain!!!

[lawyertom1]

dragonwagon5. You would be amazed the number of folks across the U.S. who love freedom, hate the lies and deceits of the Shrub and his cohorts, believe in Human Rights, and thus -- no surprise -- absolutely detest what is happening in Tibet, among many other places (e.g., Dafur, Burma aka Myanmar, Zimbabwe). The PRC must have been really, really desperate to play down the demonstrations. They had a huge number of people bused into S.F., who waived the PRC flag for all the propaganda filmmakers to see. I am not jingoistic; I represent, among others, Chinese companies and individuals, but the fake propaganda and staged demonstrations speaks volumes about the regime''s desperation to pretend they are not occupiers of Tibet. Take a real, free vote, and I imagine that a goodly number of the 58 "clouds" would drift away. No real surprise. I am sure a number of Native American tribes would do the same if they thought they could survive economically. And what''s with this Yellow Emperor cult that the regime is trying to create? Talk about an appeal to racism and xenophobia. It is really sad.

[lawyertom1]

The ethnic Uighur Muslim "separatists" have been seeking a semblance of autonomy for quite a few years. It does not surprise me that the PRC would claim they were behind some sort of plot; it is amazing what is revealed when you torture people. They will tell you anything you want to hear. Since the PRC is an obscenely authoritarian regime, it is impossible to know if there is any validity to this claim, or if it is like most such claims made by the PRC just pure unadulterated guano.

[soldat44]

I don''''t know how they are at mass murder, but if you''''re ever in China, Uighur restaurants make great food. I recommend them, if you like spicy food.

Posted by newsjunky5 at 12:35 PM : Apr 10, 2008

Abortion is Murder. Having a national policy of forced abortion is Mass Murder.

[demwatcher]

Yeah, right.

Lying Communists arses.

[caliengineer]

JUNKYEE,

The Chinese are INTENTIONALLY poisoning food. Do some research. You will find that all the poison targets just three groups: children, military, Christians.

China & Russia and several other nations are already planning the attack on America. Either you are recklessly argumentative, or very poorly aware.