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Islamic group threatens attack during Olympics
Published on Fri, Aug 08, 2008 at 14:49, Updated at Fri, Aug 08, 2008 in 
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WARNING: This video frame grab image shows TIP's Abdullah Mansour making a statement threatening Olympics.
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Urumqi (China): Police shut down the bustling bazaar in the capital of China's restive Muslim region of Xinjiang on Friday amid threats from an Islamic group that attackers might target buses, trains and planes during the Olympics.
A sign at the entrance of the bazaar in Urumqi did not explain why the area, surrounded by mosques with minarets, was off limits as the country prepared to kick off the Summer Games thousands of miles away in Beijing.
Even a KFC restaurant in the shopping area - filled with touristy shops selling carpets and jade - was closed, and a guard sitting on the steps shooed people away.
The sprawling, far-flung western region of Xinjiang has long been a source of trouble for China's communist government.
The rugged, mineral-rich territory is populated by the Uighurs, a Turkic Muslim minority that has had tense relations with the Chinese.
Many Uighurs favour independence or greater autonomy for Xinjiang, which takes up one-sixth of China's land mass and borders eight Central Asian countries.
On Thursday, a videotape purportedly made by the Turkistan Islamic Party - a militant group seeking Xinjiang independence - was released with threats to launch attacks during the Olympics.
"Choose your side," says the videotape's speaker, grasping a rifle and dressed in a black turban and camouflage with his face masked.
"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," he warns Muslims, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group, a US operation that monitors militant organizations.
The Turkistan Islamic Party is believed to be based across the border in Pakistan, where security experts say core members have received training from al-Qaeda.
Last month, the militant group issued videotaped threats and claimed responsibility for a series of bus bombings 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 new video claims the communist regime's alleged mistreatment of Muslims justifies holy war.
It accuses China of forcing Muslims into atheism by capturing and killing Islamic teachers and destroying Islamic schools, according to the website. It also says China's birth control programme has forced abortions on Muslim women.
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