=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/c/a/2008/03/10/MNPDVGVAS.= DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, March 10, 2008 (SF Chronicle) China says 2 tried to sabotage jet/Nation concerned about rising terror ris= k as Beijing prepares for summer Olympics Jim Yardley,Jake Hooker, New York Times (03-10) 04:00 PDT Beijing -- A Chinese passenger jet that departed Friday morning from the heavily Muslim region of Xinjiang was forced to make an emergency landing after crew members apprehended at least two passengers who authorities said intended to sabotage the airplane, the state news media reported Sunday. Also on Sunday, a senior Chinese official said a police raid in January against a group in Xinjiang, which had been suspected of planning terrorist acts, uncovered proof that the group was plotting an attack on the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer. Terrorism is usually not a significant threat in China, where the authoritarian government takes an unflinching approach to maintaining social stability. But Chinese security officials are concerned that terrorism poses a serious risk as Beijing prepares for the Games. The airplane episode came in the same week that a man armed with explosives hijacked a private bus filled with Australian tour operators who were sightseeing in the city of Xian. A police sniper later killed the man, and few details have been released about him or his motives. No hostages were wounded. On Sunday, Wang Lequan, the Communist Party chief in Xinjiang, took a ha= rd stance, saying that China would strike the "three evil forces" of terrorists, separatists and extremists. "We are prepared to strike them when the evil forces are planning their activities," Wang said, according to Xinhua, the country's state-run news agency. Xinjiang is a vast northwestern region that is home to China's 8.3 milli= on Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim group with linguistic and cultural ties to neighboring Central Asia. Tensions have simmered in the region because of cultural aspirations amo= ng some Uighurs for an independent state. In the past, China has blamed Uighur separatists for terrorist activity. Human rights groups have accused China of overstating any terrorist threat as a pretext for cracking down on the Uighurs. In January, Chinese police attacked what authorities said was a terrorist gang in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. Two people were killed and 15 were arrested. Initially, few details were released about the raid. On Sunday, Wang said investigators had found knives, axes and books about terrorism in the raid. He said other materials suggested that the group had been planning an attack on the Olympics, though no specifics were provided. "Obviously, the gang had planned an attack targeting the Olympics," Wang told Xinhua in an interview conducted during a meeting of the National People's Congress, the country's Communist Party-controlled legislature. Wang said the gang had ties to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a separatist group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations. The thwarted airplane attack also was reported Sunday. Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region government, told the state media that "some people were attempting to create an air disaster." The incident occurred on a China Southern Airlines flight that departed Urumqi on Friday morning at 10:35, heading for Beijing. But the plane was diverted to the city of Lanzhou after a disturbance on board. Bekri suggested that more than one person had been involved but declined to provide specifics, telling Xinhua that the authorities were investigating "who the attackers are, where they are from and what's their background." One person with information about the episode said a Uighur woman apparently smuggled three containers of gasoline onto the airplane. The person said the Uighur woman took the containers into the bathroom a= nd was later apprehended by members of the flight crew. ----------------------= ------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2008 SF Chronicle <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".