Security tight as Olympic torch passes through Chinese Muslim region

URUMQI, China-The Olympic torch began a three-day relay through the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang in northwest China on Tuesday amid tight security.A Kyodo News reporter in the regional capital Urumqi said police and security officials were posted every 10 meters as the relay began in the city center and spectators lining the route had to carry a special permit from the authorities. Chinese security officials say they have broken up at least three terrorist gangs this year in Xinjiang, organized by Muslim separatists who want the region to split from the rest of China.The alleged plots included a plan to kidnap athletes, journalists and other visitors attending the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, as well as an attempt to bring down an airliner flying from Urumqi to Beijing by starting a fire in one of the aircraft's toilets.Exiled members of Xinjiang's Muslim community say the terrorist threat has been exaggerated by Beijing to justify tighter security and central government control over the region.The torch relay in Urumqi began in People's Square with spectators waving the Chinese flag and shouting pro-China slogans.State TV showed pictures of the torchbearers running past flag-waving spectators, and flanked by two long lines of tracksuit-wearing security officials.The head of the Communist Party's regional sports department, Li Guangming, was quoted in the state-run Xinjiang Daily as saying people should watch the event on TV because of "safety" concerns."Tens of thousands of members of work units will line the route shouting encouragement. If the numbers are too great, there may be safety problems, so we recommend people watch on TV," Li said.The Olympic torch has received a warm reception since it arrived in China in May after the relay was disrupted by pro-Tibet activists in previous stages of the event, particularly in Europe and the United States.But correspondents say the authorities appear nervous about the stages to be run through Xinjiang and ethnic-Tibetan areas after the riots and antigovernment protests that began in Lhasa in March.The Xinjiang relay will continue Wednesday and Thursday in the cities of Kashgar, Shihezi and Changji.Xinjiang, like Tibet, has its own distinctive language, religion and culture.
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As in the days of Noah....