The Beijing Olympics face the threat of terrorist attack by Chinese Muslim separatists after a shoot-out this year and an attempt last week to crash a domestic passenger flight.

Top officials of the mainly Muslim far-western region of Xinjiang revealed yesterday for the first time the anxieties of China that extremists from the ethnic Uighur minority were plotting to sabotage the Games in August.

The statements are unusual from a Communist leadership which has long insisted that anti-Chinese movements are so weak that they are incapable of causing instability.

Uighurs, who are engaged in a low-intensity insurgency to demand an independent state of East Turkestan in Xinjiang province, have been blamed for sporadic incidents of violence although no serious attacks have been reported in China for more than a decade.

Nur Bekri, the governor of Xinjiang, said that the threat remained real. He added that the flight crew on Friday had foiled an attempt to crash a Southern Airlines passenger aircraft en route from the regional capital of Urumqi to Beijing.

The crew made an emergency landing in the western city of Lanzhou before proceeding an hour later to their destination.

The governor gave few details of the incident, indicating only that more than one person was involved and an investigation was under way. He said: “From what we presently know, this was an attempt to crash the plane.”

Two people have reportedly been detained and some flammable materials were found in the aircraft's lavatory. Mr Bekri did not say whether those involved were Uighurs but took the opportunity to denounce separatists.

He said: “Those in Xinjiang pursuing separatism and sabotage are an extremely small number. They may be Uighurs but they can't represent Uighurs. They are the scum of the Uighurs.”

Wang Lequan, the regional chief of the Communist Party, revealed that a police raid in Urumqi in January had uncovered a plot to sabotage the Olympics. Two militants were killed and 15 arrested in the January 27 operation in which five police officers were wounded when three home-made grenades were thrown at them.

Mr Wang said: “The Olympic Games slated for this August is a big event but there are always a few people who conspire to commit sabotage. It is no longer a secret now.”

While police have given no details of who was arrested and what exactly the suspects were doing, they have said that the militants were collaborating with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which is listed by the UN as an international terrorist organisation.

However, the obscure group is believed to have no more than a few dozen members and has carried out very few attacks. Such revelations are seen as giving greater force to the argument by Beijing for extreme measures to ensure social stability and safety during the Olympics.

China has been increasing anti-terror preparations and the top police official last year labelled terrorism as the biggest threat to the event. But this causes a dilemma for a Government eager to show the world that China is a stable nation where visitors can travel without fear of violence.

The last-known Uighur attack was in 1997 in Urumqi when bombs placed in buses killed nine and wounded seventy-four.

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