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China says it foiled attack

China has foiled an attempt to crash a passenger jet en route to Beijing and the aircraft made a safe emergency landing, a senior official said yesterday, in what state media called an attempted terrorist attack.

The China Southern flight originated in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, where many Uyghurs are unhappy with Chinese rule.

It landed in Urumqi from Lanzhou on Friday after the crew discovered and foiled the attempt to "cause an air disaster," Xinjiang Governor Nuer Baikeli said on the sidelines of the annual National People's Congress session.

"Who the people involved in the incident were, where they were from, what their aim was and what their background was, we are now investigating," he said.

"Fortunately our air crew took resolute measures, discovered and put a stop to this action promptly," the governor said.

A source told Reuters that at least two passengers on flight CZ6901 were taken into custody for questioning.

The source, who requested anonymity, said inflammable material was found in the plane's toilet.

Police also captured and killed alleged Islamic terrorists plotting attacks on the Olympic Games, Xinjiang's Chinese Communist Party (CCP) boss Wang Lequan (王樂泉) said in Beijing yesterday.

Wang said terrorist materials were seized in a Jan. 27 raid in Urumqi. Wang offered no evidence and earlier reports on the raid made no mention of Olympic targets.

The Global Times newspaper published by the CCP said police confiscated guns, homemade bombs and training materials during the raid.
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