Unlike we soft-hearted, politically-correct Westerners, the Chinks
won't put up with too much of their ****.
_____________
China: Terrorists targeted Olympics By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated
Press Writer
Sun Mar 9, 8:38 AM ET
BEIJING - Chinese police killed alleged terrorists plotting to attack
the Beijing Olympics, while a flight crew managed to prevent an
apparent attempt to crash a Chinese jetliner in a separate case just
last week, officials said Sunday.
Wang Lequan, the top Communist Party official in the western region of
Xinjiang, said materials seized in a January raid in the regional
capital, Urumqi, had described a plot with a purpose "specifically to
sabotage the staging of the Beijing Olympics."
"Their goal was very clear," Wang told re****ters in Beijing.
Wang cited no other evidence and earlier re****ts on the raid had made
no mention of Olympic targets.
Speaking at the same meeting, Xinjiang's governor said a flight crew
prevented an apparent attempt to crash a China Southern flight from
Urumqi on Friday. Nur Bekri did not specifically label the incident a
terrorist act, saying it remained under investigation. No passengers
were injured and police were investigating, he said.
China has ratcheted up anti-terror preparations ahead of the August
Games, with the nation's top police official last year labeling
terrorism the biggest threat facing the event.
Police found guns, homemade bombs, training materials and "extremist
religious ideological materials" during the Jan. 27 raid in Urumqi, in
which two members of the gang were killed and 15 arrested, according
to earlier re****ts.
Chinese forces have for years been battling a low-intensity separatist
movement among Xinjiang's Uighurs, a Turkic Muslim people culturally
and ethnically distinct from China's Han majority. Iron-fisted Chinese
rule has largely suppressed the violence, however, and no major
bombing or shooting incidents have been re****ted in almost a decade.
Wang said the group had been trained by and was following the orders
of a Uighur separatist group based in Pakistan and Afghanistan called
the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, or ETIM. The group has been
labeled a terrorist organization by both the United Nations and the
United States. East Turkestan is another name for Xinjiang.
China says its main terror threat comes from ETIM. Although the group
is not believed to have more than a few dozen members, terrorism
experts say it has become influential among extremist groups using the
Internet to raise funds and find recruits.
Wang said security forces would take pro-active measures to crush
terrorism, religious extremism, and separatism.
"These guys are fantasizing if they think they can disrupt the
Olympics," said Wang, known for his hardline stance on cru****ng
dissent. "They don't have the strength."
Few details were available about the alleged attempt to crash the
China Southern Airlines flight that left Urumqi at 10:35 a.m. on
Friday.
Bekri, the governor of the Xinjiang region, indicated that more than
one person was involved, but did not specify who was suspected to be
behind the attempt, saying it remains under investigation.
"From what we presently know, this was an attempt to crash the plane,"
Bekri said.
Bekri said the crew responded and brought the plane to an emergency
landing in the western city of Lanzhou at 12:40 p.m. No passengers
were injured and police were investigating, he said.
He said it continued to its original destination, Beijing, after about
one hour.
A man who answered the phone at China Southern's Urumqi office said he
the incident was under investigation and he had no further details. He
hung up without giving his name.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080309/ap_on_re_as/oly_china_terror
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