China is Safe for Olympics

China said Tuesday that could guarantee a safe Olympic Games, while announcing that Islamic militants were trying to wage a holy war aimed at destroying the Games in Beijing starting in three days.

"Terrorists" inside and outside the country seeking an independent Muslim state in northwest China's Xinjiang region were involved, authorities said they increased security after an attack on Monday which killed 16 policemen.

The terror alert came as athletes continue to arrive in Beijing on Friday before the opening ceremony to launch the Games, being seen as a coming of age part of China after three decades of dramatic economic reforms.

"We can clearly see that these forces are trying to wage a psychological violence and the battle against the Olympic Games," said Shi Dagang, secretary of the Communist Party of Kashgar, a city in the Xinjiang region that borders Central Asia.

"They want to turn 2008 in a year of mourning for China."

Shi said Xinjiang police had arrested 18 foreign "terrorists" this year, and that one of the main threats came from East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a UN-listed terrorist group which allegedly operates in Xinjiang and Afghanistan.

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Shi said the ETIM have been involved in the attack Monday to Kashgar, as the two assailants explosives used were similar to those found during a raid on a basis of the group in Xinjiang last year.

"For these two people, it is very clear that they are part of violent terrorist forces," said Shi.

However, Beijing Olympic organizers sought to reassure the 10000 athletes and other 500000 is expected that foreign visitors who come to China for the Games that should not be concerned about security.

"We can ensure a safe and peaceful for the Olympic Games," organising committee spokesman Sun Weide told reporters.

China has already spent an intense security around Beijing and throughout the country in the run-up to the Games, some veterans with sports officials saying they had not seen such a show of force since the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

In Xinjiang, members of its Muslim Uighur ethnic group have complained for months of a massive security offensive that has seen many people arrested.

Xinjiang has about 8.3 million Uighurs, and many are unhappy with what they say has been decades of repressive communist Chinese rule.

China announced increased security to another level on Tuesday across Xinjiang, and in particular the famous oasis city of Kashgar.

The official Xinhua news agency said police had increased the roadblocks, while extra security forces were sent to protect buildings of government offices, schools and hospitals.

In Beijing, some athletes seemed more concerned that the final preparations for the biggest event of their lives are hampered by the city's poor air, which has persisted despite emergency measures sanitation.

Indonesian team official weight Syafraidi Cut Ali said his squad were under strict instructions to stay outdoors as little as possible.

"We stay in our bedrooms and dining areas, not outdoors," said Ali. "This is a problem."

Members of the U.S. cycling team were also seen arriving at Beijing airport with masks.

However, the International Olympic Committee medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist said pollution levels were not as bad as first feared and blamed the media for exaggerating the issue.

"I am convinced air quality not try to pose major problems for athletes and visitors in Beijing," said Ljungqvist.

He said that the media's reporting had convinced stars such as Ethiopian great Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele and British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe to compete here could damage their health.

However, IOC president Jacques Rogge said during one year countdown to the Games last August that endurance events like the marathon may have to be postponed if pollution levels are severe.