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<p>An Islamic group that has threatened to attack the Olympics released a new video warning Muslims to avoid planes, trains and buses used by Chinese, a US group that monitors militant organisations said.</p> <p>The six-minute video, issued two days before Friday's opening of the Beijing games, was purportedly made by the Turkistan Islamic Party, which seeks independence for China's western Xinjiang region, the SITE Intelligence Group said on Thursday.</p>

Another video out of Turkistan makes more threats against the Olympics in Beijing. Like several other previous videos from this group, this video was uploaded to YouTube. If can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sufKQ_t5NfA We are currently working on a complete translation of this video.

China is stepping up its efforts to convince the outside world that there is a direct link between the US-led war on terror and its own fight against Muslim separatists. But many remain unconvinced by Beijing's latest claims against those accused of carrying out a series of bombings and assassinations in its biggest and most politically restive region. In the past, China revealed as little as possible about the sensitive issue of separatist violence in the huge and remote western region of Xinjiang. Apart from anything else, it was highly embarrassed by the claims of local Muslim Uighurs that they...

US places separatist group on terrorist list Beijing _ The US has put a group that wants independence for China's Muslim Xinjiang region on a list of terrorist organisations, a senior US diplomat said. The announcement by US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage on Monday came a day after China released rules on missile exports, a step long sought by Washington. The US government put the East Turkistan Islamic Movement on its terrorist list several days ago after ``careful study,'' Mr Armitage said. East Turkistan is another name for Xinjiang. The group ``committed acts of violence against unarmed civilians...

Amnesty International recently issued an extensive report on the policies of the Chinese government towards the Uighur minority in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR).1 The 24-page document details the various legislative provisions recently introduced into Chinese law with a view to curbing “terrorist, separatist and illegal religious activities.” Loosely translated, China is attempting to create domestic legal sanctions for the post-September 11th crackdown on Muslims and Islam in XUAR. By no means is a Chinese crackdown on organized religion unique; China has a long-standing antagonism towards religion, as evidenced by the highly publicized crack down on the Falun Gong sect...