China says Muslim ‘terror plot’ uncovered

CHINA said yesterday that it had uncovered a plot by members of a Muslim minority group to sabotage the Beijing Summer Olympics with suicide bombings and kidnappings of foreign visitors.

Police allegedly confiscated almost 22 pounds of TNT-based explosives, eight sticks of dynamite, two detonators, and “jihadist” literature, but Chinese officials offered no evidence to back up the allegations, the latest in a series of dramatic terrorism charges against ethnic minorities in the run-up to the Summer Games.

China says violent separatists are behind recent unrest in Muslim and Tibetan areas that has drawn increased attention to China’s treatment of minority groups. Pro-Tibetan protesters have also outraged China by disrupting sections of the global Olympic torch relay. Last month, authorities in Beijing accused followers of the Dalai Lama of plotting suicide bombings inside China.