Olympic Terrorism Threat Video

The threat, attributed to the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), is contained in a new video which shows a burning Olympics logo and an explosion imposed over a venue to be used for the Beijing Games.

It claims the communist regime's alleged mistreatment of Muslims justifies holy war.

The TIP is an ethnic Uighur and Muslim organisation that is seeking to create an independent state in China's heavily Muslim Xinjiang province.

It is believed to be based across the border in Pakistan, where security experts say it has received training from al Qaeda.

Earlier this week, a bomb attack in the city of Kashgar in Xinjiang killed 16 policemen.

The August 1 video, called "Call to the Global Muslim Nation", was picked up by two US terrorism monitoring firms - the SITE Intelligence Group and IntelCenter.

The tape said: "Do not stay on the same bus, on the same train, on the same plane, in the same buildings, or any place the Chinese are."

A speaker appeared on the video holding an AK-47 assault rifle and wearing a black turban and face cover.

He spoke in front of a black banner carrying the words in Arabic: "There is no God other than Allah, Mohammad is the messenger of God".

The speaker called on Muslims to offer support financially, physically, spiritually and verbally.

"China ... rejects Islam and forces Muslims into atheism by capturing and killing Islamic teachers and destroying Islamic schools," he argued.

In July, Chinese authorities denied claims by the group that it was behind a series of bombings ahead of the Olympics.

The TIP had previously released a video threatening the Games and claimed responsibility for deadly bus blasts in Shanghai and in Kunming, capital of the southwestern province of Yunnan.

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