(August 08, Washington, Sri Lanka Guardian) A US group that monitors militant organisations says an Islamic group that has threatened to attack the Olympics has released a new video warning Muslims to avoid planes, trains and buses used by Chinese.
The SITE Intelligence Group says the six-minute video, issued two days before the Beijing games open, was purportedly made by the Turkistan Islamic Party, which seeks independence for China's western Xinjiang region.
SITE says that in the video, the speaker grasps a rifle and warns Muslims no to take buses, trains, planes or stay in "the same buildings, or any place the Chinese are."
The Washington-based IntelCenter, another agency that monitors militant groups, identified the speaker on Thursday as Abdullah Mansour from the group's religious education department.
He speaks in the Turkic language of the Uighurs, a Muslim minority with a population of about eight (m) million in Xinjiang.
Last month, the group issued videotaped threats and claimed responsibility for bombings buses in China in recent months.
The latest video features graphics similar to ones used earlier: a burning Olympics logo and an explosion imposed over an apparent Olympic venue. The latest video claims the communist regime's alleged mistreatment of Muslims justifies holy war.
More than 100-thousand soldiers and police were guarding Beijing and other Olympic co-host cities. Terrorism experts say the heavy security presence would likely force attackers to target less-protected areas.
On Monday, assailants killed 16 border police and wounded 16 others in the Xinjiang city of Kashgar when they rammed a stolen truck into the group before tossing homemade bombs and stabbing them.
Chinese authorities said they had arrested two men who are Uighurs in connection with the raid.
With the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic games only hours away, security at the various venues and sites has been stepped up further .
Security officials used sniffer dogs, metal detectors and remote inspection devices to search through the flower beds, lawns and other public spaces near the Olympic venues.
Elsewhere in the capital, a convoy of trucks carried security officers past Tiananmen Square, while a police vehicle could be seen patrolling the square.
Meanwhile, world leaders continued to arrive in Beijing ahead of Friday's opening ceremony.
As dusk fell, United States President George W. Bush touched down, accompanied by his wife Laura and his daughter Barbara.
They were greeted by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and others, and then sped away in a motorcade. Bush arrived from Thailand, where he earlier made a critical, high-profile speech exhorting China to grant more freedom to its people.
Bush is the first US President to attend the Olympics on foreign soil. He'll join around a hundred other world leaders and senior government representatives at the opening ceremony.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
The SITE Intelligence Group says the six-minute video, issued two days before the Beijing games open, was purportedly made by the Turkistan Islamic Party, which seeks independence for China's western Xinjiang region.
SITE says that in the video, the speaker grasps a rifle and warns Muslims no to take buses, trains, planes or stay in "the same buildings, or any place the Chinese are."
The Washington-based IntelCenter, another agency that monitors militant groups, identified the speaker on Thursday as Abdullah Mansour from the group's religious education department.
He speaks in the Turkic language of the Uighurs, a Muslim minority with a population of about eight (m) million in Xinjiang.
Last month, the group issued videotaped threats and claimed responsibility for bombings buses in China in recent months.
The latest video features graphics similar to ones used earlier: a burning Olympics logo and an explosion imposed over an apparent Olympic venue. The latest video claims the communist regime's alleged mistreatment of Muslims justifies holy war.
More than 100-thousand soldiers and police were guarding Beijing and other Olympic co-host cities. Terrorism experts say the heavy security presence would likely force attackers to target less-protected areas.
On Monday, assailants killed 16 border police and wounded 16 others in the Xinjiang city of Kashgar when they rammed a stolen truck into the group before tossing homemade bombs and stabbing them.
Chinese authorities said they had arrested two men who are Uighurs in connection with the raid.
With the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic games only hours away, security at the various venues and sites has been stepped up further .
Security officials used sniffer dogs, metal detectors and remote inspection devices to search through the flower beds, lawns and other public spaces near the Olympic venues.
Elsewhere in the capital, a convoy of trucks carried security officers past Tiananmen Square, while a police vehicle could be seen patrolling the square.
Meanwhile, world leaders continued to arrive in Beijing ahead of Friday's opening ceremony.
As dusk fell, United States President George W. Bush touched down, accompanied by his wife Laura and his daughter Barbara.
They were greeted by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and others, and then sped away in a motorcade. Bush arrived from Thailand, where he earlier made a critical, high-profile speech exhorting China to grant more freedom to its people.
Bush is the first US President to attend the Olympics on foreign soil. He'll join around a hundred other world leaders and senior government representatives at the opening ceremony.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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