China says it has uncovered terror plot to kidnap athletes at Beijing Olympic Games. 35 people arrested for plotting to kidnap athletes, journalists, other visitors. "Violent terror gang" based in Xinjiang region behind plot, Ministry of Public Security Spokesman Wu Heping told a news conference."We face a real terrorist threat," Wu said. The arrests took place between March 26 and April 6, he said. On Thursday, Wu said the ring was plotting to kidnap athletes, foreign journalists and other visitors to the August Games. He added that police had also confiscated almost 22 pounds of explosives and eight sticks of dynamite and "jihadist" literature in the latest raids in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang.Wu also provided further details on a second group arrested in January, alleging they had been manufacturing explosives and were plotting to attack hotels, government offices and military targets in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities. Wu said the gang had been acting on orders from a radical Islamic Xinjiang independence group, East Turkestan Islamic Movement.According to the Associated Press, while the United States has labeled the East Turkestan Islamic Movement a terrorist organization, the State Department alleges widespread abuses of the legal and educational systems by the communist authorities to suppress Uighur culture and religion.
