Islamic Threat to Beijing Olympics

Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), which seeks independence for China's western Xinjiang region, has threatened to attack the Olympics and warned Muslims to avoid travel by planes, trains and buses used by Chinese during the games from 7th Aug to 23rd Aug. TIP is trained in terror camps maintained by Al Qaeda across the border in Pakistan. The threat came in Turkic language of the Uighurs, a Muslim minority with a population of about 8 million in Xinjiang Province of western China.

The militant group also 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 of Olympics logo and an explosion at an apparent Olympic venue. TIP justifies its holy war against the Communist regime's alleged mistreatment of Muslims, accuses China of forcing Muslims into atheism by capturing and killing Islamic teachers, destroying Islamic schools and China's birth control program that has forced abortions on Muslim women.

Xinjiang is China's gateway to hydrocarbon rich Central Asia and home to its plutonium mines that support China's strategic nuclear ambitions. The TIP threat, viewed against the region's importance and the timing of it during Olympics, is enough to establish its seriousness. China has seen a spate of bombings by Islamic fundamentalists in recent months. Considering the militant group's demonstrated ability to execute bombings and the propaganda value of terror strikes during Olympics, when the world media would be present in China, the threat seems credible.