China prepares security forces

2008-06-19 21:15

Beijing - China has mobilised a 100 000-strong anti-terrorism force to guard against threats to the Beijing Olympics, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

Police commandos, specialist units and regular army troops made up the force, which was activated following a series of drills earlier this month, Xinhua said.

It also included the paramilitary Snow Wolf Commando Unit that was tasked with handling terrorist alerts and public unrest during or around the August 8-24 Games, Xinhua said.

"Experiences of past games show that terrorist attacks may occur before the games, so our anti-terrorist forces have been in action ahead of the opening ceremony," the report quoted Liu Shaowu, security director for the Beijing organising committee, as saying.

Liu said his department had prepared more than 500 specific plans for security, transport, fire-fighting, and VIP protection.

China had previously enacted a raft of security restrictions and organised an additional 440 000 security guards and volunteers to ward off attacks.

China's government said terrorism was the biggest threat to the games and claimed to have already foiled multiple plots by domestic separatists to sabotage the event.

Earlier this month, the government appointed a terrorism expert as vice public security minister ahead of the Olympic torch's procession through the restive areas of Tibet and Xinjiang.

Authorities said they foiled plots by separatists in Xinjiang - a region of northwest China that borders Tibet and includes much of China's Muslim population - targeting the games, including alleged attempts to crash an airliner and kidnap athletes and journalists.

- AP