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KASHGAR, China-A taxi driver and vegetable seller accused of killing 16 police in China's restive Western region just days before the Beijing Olympics were religious extremists bent on "jihad", a top official said on Tuesday.Evidence from the bloody dawn attack also linked the two men to violent separatist groups who wanted to tarnish the Games, said Shi Dagang, Communist Party chief of the silk road city of Kashgar. "Religion is more important to them than their own life or peace for their mothers, and so they set out to perform jihad," Shi told a news conference the day after the killings.China has gone to extraordinary lengths to tighten security ahead of the Games, which begin on Friday, when the government wants to present an image of national stability and contentment.The men are accused of ramming a truck into 70 frontier police out on a dawn training run, then continuing the carnage with homemade explosives, a homemade gun and a collection of knives.Sixteen policemen were injured, four seriously.The suspects, both members of the largely Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, were arrested on the spot. One is in hospital after blowing an arm off handling explosives, which Shi said were similar to those seized by police when they raided a separatist training camp in 2007.Officials have said Uighur militants seeking to turn the region into an independent "East Turkestan" homeland are among the biggest threats.To read more go to:
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