China says no Olympic terror link found in bus blasts

AFP
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

China said on Tuesday that a probe into two deadly bus explosions had not turned up any evidence that they were terrorist attacks linked to next month's Beijing Olympics.

Police have said two people died Monday in the blasts aboard two public buses in Kunming, 2,100 kilometres (1,300 miles) southwest of Beijing, calling the explosions deliberate acts of "sabotage."

"We have not found evidence of a link to the Olympics but we will continue to make efforts to find out the truth," foreign ministy spokesman Liu Jianchao said, providing no other details.

Liu was asked whether police had found any evidence that terrorist groups were behind the explosions and whether there was any connection to the Olympics.

China has previously said that Muslims in the far northwest Xinjiang region were planning attacks on the Olympics.

However rights groups have accused the government of exaggerating or fabricating the threat as an excuse to silence dissent in Xinjiang, where many members of the Uighur ethnic minority complain about repressive Chinese rule.

Full article here

[DISCUSS THIS STORY IN OUR FORUM]