Beijing - A little-known Islamic group has issued a new
terrorist threat against the Beijing Olympics, US intelligence
analysts said Friday.
The Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) issued the threat Wednesday in a
video posted on the internet, urging Muslims 'not to attend the games
or be within the vicinity,' the SITE Intelligence Group reported on
its website.
The six-minute video 'Call to the Global Muslim Ummah' had a
production date of August 1 and similar graphics to a previous video
purporting to be from the same group, SITE said.
'The speaker identifies himself as a representative of TIP and
urges Muslims to 'choose your side,'' SITE said.
'Do not stay on the same bus, on the same train, on the same
plane, in the same buildings or any place the Chinese are,' it quoted
the speaker as saying.
The video also urged Muslims to give financial, physical and
spiritual support to the group, SITE said.
A similar TIP video, distributed online from July 24, showed the
Beijing Olympics logo in flames.
China has identified independence-seeking Uighur groups from its
central Asian region of Xinjiang as the biggest potential terrorist
threat during the Olympics.
China has said the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a
militant Uighur group, has plotted to sabotage the Olympics by trying
to blow up a domestic airliner, kidnap foreigners and cause
explosions at Olympics venues.
Uighur and human rights groups have accused China of exaggerating
the threat from a group, whose actual strength is unclear.
Some Chinese officials in Xinjiang also played down the threat of
terrorism.
But Shi Dagang, the Communist Party secretary of Xinjiang's
Kashgar city, said an attack Monday in the city was linked to ETIM.
The attack against a group of armed police jogging outside their
barracks left 16 officers dead and 16 injured, state media said.
Reacting to the latest threat in the video on Friday, Wang Wei,
the general secretary of the Beijing Olympic organizers, said China
would 'spare no effort' in securing the games.
'Security is always a top job,' Wang said. 'We spare no efforts in
making a safe games.'
'Security has been reinforced, but we also want to have a relaxed
atmosphere at the games,' Wang told reporters. 'We need to strike a
balance.'
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