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BEIJING -- A Chinese Islamic group that has threatened to attack the Beijing Olympics released a new video warning Muslims to avoid being on planes, trains and buses with Chinese at the games, a U.S. group that monitors militant organizations said Thursday.
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The video was purportedly made by the Turkistan Islamic Party, which seeks independence for China's western Xinjiang region, the SITE Intelligence Group said. The militants are believed to be based in Pakistan, where security experts say core members have received training from al-Qaida.
Last month, the militant group issued videotaped threats and claimed responsibility for a series of bus bombings in China. The new video, issued just ahead of Friday's opening of the games, features graphics similar to ones used earlier: a burning Olympics logo and an explosion imposed over an apparent Olympic venue.
The speaker in the six-minute video wears a black turban and covers his face. Gripping a Kalashnikov rifle, he speaks in the Turkic language of the Uighurs, a largely Muslim minority in China's western Xinjiang territory. The Uighurs have with a long history of tense relations with the central government.
Urging Muslims to "choose your side," the man warns: "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," according to a translation by SITE.
Ben Venzke, of Washington-based IntelCenter, another agency that monitors militant groups, identified the speaker as Abdullah Mansour from the group's religious education department.
"I think what they're doing is they're trying to capitalize on the buildup to the games," said Venzke.
Venzke said his group believes that based on the militant group's demonstrated ability to conduct bombings "and the apparent opportunity TIP believes the Olympic Games presents in terms of targeting and striking a blow to China, that the threat is credible and should be taken seriously."
He said the release of a five-page written threat, in conjunction with two videos over the last three months by the group "is indicative of an orchestrated campaign designed to fulfill jihadists belief that they should provide warning before launching a significant attack."
More than 100,000 soldiers and police are guarding Beijing and other Olympic cities. Terrorism experts say the heavy security would likely force attackers to target less-protected areas.
"I think the actual Olympics themselves, the venues, the guests, the athletes, are going to be safe," said Drew Thompson, director of China studies at the Nixon Center in Washington.
He added that Uighur groups haven't demonstrated any capabilities of attacking Beijing or other cities during the games. He also said there's nothing in the previous video that establishes conclusively that the Turkistan Islamic Party was involved in the explosions it claimed to have a hand in.
But he added, "There's obviously significant numbers of Uighurs ... with some sort of cause who have a grudge against ... Chinese authority and are prepared to use violence to seek whatever objectives they're seeking."
