China says foils Olympics terrorist plot

China has been facing protests in the build up to the Beijing Olympics

Chinese authorities foiled plots to kidnap foreigners and carry out suicide attacks around the Beijing Olympics, police said, in a fresh blow to the image of harmony China has sought to promote before the Games.

The European Parliament, meanwhile, voted for a possible boycott by EU leaders of the Olympics opening ceremony if China fails to talk to the Dalai Lama, raising pressure on Beijing over its handling of unrest in Tibet and neighbouring areas.

Authorities in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang detained 45 suspects and seized explosives and firearms in an operation a police spokesperson said cracked two terrorist groups seeking to disrupt the Olympics.

"We are facing a real terrorist threat. All walks of life and the public should maintain a high degree of vigilance," police spokesperson Wu Heping told a news conference.

China has heightened security in advance of the Games, which start on August 8, following a rash of anti-Beijing unrest in Tibet and neighbouring areas.

In San Francisco, determination to avoid incidents turned the torch relay into a widely criticised game of hide-and-seek as the route was abruptly changed after the flame was besieged by human rights protesters in London and Paris.

The White House said people deserved the right to express themselves freely and peacefully.

President George W. Bush felt obliged to "speak publicly on this matter and to speak privately to the Chinese about human rights freedoms, political speech freedoms, and he's going to continue to do that before, during and after the Olympics," spokesperson Dana Perino told reporters.

Bush has urged China to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader who lives in exile in India. Bush and other Western leaders face a delicate balancing act as calls mount for them to boycott the Games' opening ceremony.

China said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was never expected to attend the opening ceremony, but would be at the closing ceremony.

Indonesia will meanwhile shorten its leg of the torch relay on April 22 in Jakarta following a request by Beijing over security concerns, a sports official said on Thursday.

The path the torch takes on May 2 in Hong Kong, its first stop in China, will also be curtailed "to avoid embarrassing scenes", Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported. - Reuters