China Says It Has Foiled Olympic Terror Plots
Posted April 10, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
China claims it has foiled an attempted Olympic terror plot that included plans to abduct athletes and carry out suicide bomb attacks.
The startling allegations have been levelled by Chinese authorities against 35 suspects from the north-western Xinjiang province, a region also known as East Turkestan. Several Muslim Uighurs live there and many have been calling for independence for their region.
The security ministry said it broke up the terror ring in January. It held 10 suspects at the time and arrested 35 more in recent weeks, according to government spokesman Wu Heping.
Chinese officials say two terrorist groups were involved in plots to kidnap athletes, journalists and tourists, carry out remote-controlled bombings, poisonings and suicide attacks. Wu said authorities seized “jihadist” literature and several pounds of explosives during raids carried out in the provincial capital.
Some Uighurs say Chinese officials concocted these terror plots to crack down on activists and others wonder if authorities are trying to exaggerate the terror threat in order to keep dissidents under control for the upcoming Summer Games in Beijing.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images, Frederic J. Brown
