BEIJING - Chinese police have cracked a terrorist cell in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, amid worries of such groups penetrating other parts of the country under the guise of religion.

More than 10 members of a group headed by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) planning attacks countrywide have been detained, with explosives, knives and other weapons seized, Ministry of Public Security spokesman Wu Heping said on Thursday.

The terrorist group was involved in the violent attacks on border police in China's westernmost city of Kashgar in Xinjiang that killed 17 people and injured 15 in 2008, Wu said.

The terrorists also detonated explosives in supermarkets, hotels and government buildings, killing two civilians and injuring two officers in Kuqa county that year.

"The breakup of the major terrorist ring proves once again that terrorist groups, including the ETIM, remain the principal terrorist threat facing China at present and in the near future," Wu told a press conference.

The United Nations and United States consider the ETIM to be a terrorist organization.

Two ringleaders, both natives of Xinjiang, were among those detained in the latest crackdown, Wu said.

He identified them as Abdurixit Ablet, 42, and Imin Semai'er, 33. Police investigations showed that Abdurixit Ablet was sent by ETIM separatists from abroad and Imin Semai'er was a main member of the terrorist group.

The two men and their aides confessed to police that they had prepared knives, axes and self-made explosives, and planned to launch a series of terrorist attacks in Xinjiang's Kashgar, Hotan and Aksu areas from July to October 2009, Wu said.

During the briefing, authorities displayed several slides of knives and what appeared to be pipe bombs made from black powder and ball-bearings. A minivan and jeep allegedly used by the gang, as well as a kitchen-like room described as a bomb factory in Xinjiang, were also displayed in the slides.

The seizures "firmly frustrated the terrorists' sabotage plot and eliminated a potential threat to public security in a timely manner," Wu said.

No dates were given for the arrests.

The terrorists fled to Guangdong and Yunnan provinces and contacted leaders of the ETIM after police foiled their plans, Wu said.

Before the terror cell was broken, it "practiced extreme religious activities while recruiting members, raising funds and making bombs in Henan, Guangdong and Yunnan provinces", Wu said.

Major "East Turkistan" terrorist organizations have grouped together against China and penetrated other parts of the country "in the name of religion", experts have warned.

"Facing tougher security measures against terrorism in Xinjiang, terrorists are moving into the hinterland and coastal cities where they can find the same soil to thrive," Li Wei, director of the anti-terrorism research center under the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told China Daily.

Many underground religious groups across China are under the influence of international organizations, Li said.

"Terrorist influences have begun to penetrate regions out of Xinjiang."

"East Turkistan" terrorist organizations scattered across the world share the same goal of separating Xinjiang from China, he said.

Police investigations indicated that overseas-based ETIM forces earlier provided financial aid and sent people to help Abdurixit Ablet and Imin Semai'er flee.

On Dec 20 last year, Chinese police received 20 Chinese nationals who were expelled from an unidentified neighboring country for entering it illegally. Police found three of them to be terrorists at large, Wu said.

Xinhua, Reuters and AP contributed to this story.

CHINA DAILY

(China Daily 06/25/2010 page1)