Sep 16, 2009, 10:52 GMT
Beijing - China on Wednesday said police had foiled a terrorist bomb plot in the troubled far-western region of Xinjiang and said a spate of attacks with hypodermic needles was organized by at least seven groups there.
Xinjiang police had arrested six suspects and recovered more than 20 explosive devices plus a 'large quantity' of materials and equipment for making explosives at three locations near the city of Aksu, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Police investigations suggested that the gang had made the explosives following the ethnic violence that left at least 197 dead in the provincial capital, Urumqi, on July 5, the agency quoted unidentified anti-terrorism officials as saying.
The brief report did not give the date of the arrests but said police believed the suspects 'planned to carry out terrorist attacks.'
The China Daily newspaper said the number of suspects held over the needle attacks had risen to 75 by Tuesday, including groups in Urumqi, Aksu and six more areas of Xinjiang.
The attacks by members of the Uighur minority were 'still haunting Urumqi residents,' especially members of the city's Han Chinese majority, said Zhang Jun, deputy director of the Urumqi public security bureau.
Police had made arrests in 36 cases of reported needle attacks, including 16 in Urumqi and others in the Hotan, Turpan, Kashgar, Changji, Aksu and Altay areas of Xinjiang, Zhang was quoted as saying.
The newspaper report was the first to blame the attacks on organized groups of Uighurs, although the government had previously claimed that Uighur exiles had planned the attacks.
It said one of the groups arrested in Urumqi included eight suspects who had 'organized several secret meetings since August plotting needle attacks.'
The group was 'aiming to stir up hatred between people from different ethic groups' and had stabbed people with sewing needles, safety pins and toothpicks, the newspaper said.
Three Uighurs were sentenced to up to 15 years in prison on Saturday over needle attacks in Urumqi, only two weeks after their arrest, state media said.
Since bloody ethnic riots in July, Urumqi has been plagued by tension between its ethnic Uighur and Han Chinese residents.
Reports began appearing of attacks by Uighurs using needles in mid-August.
The regional government said city hospitals had dealt with 531 victims of needle stabbings, most of them Han Chinese, with 106 people showing 'obvious signs' of needle attacks.
The syringe attacks led to a mass protest by mainly Han Chinese, calling on the municipal and regional governments to step up security in the city.
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