BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China says it has destroyed five
terrorist groups in a mainly Muslim autonomous region on suspicion of
plotting to attack the Olympic Games, which start in less than a month.

China has launched a series of anti-terror drills to ensure security for the Beijing Games.

Authorities have arrested 82 suspected terrorists in the Xinjiang
Uighur Autonomous Region in the past six months, according to state-run
media quoting Chen Zhuangwei, head of the Public Security Bureau in the
regional capital of Urumqi.

The police also banned gatherings at
41 places where illegal preaching or "Holy War" training was taking
place in the western Xinjiang province, the Xinhua report said Thursday.

In addition, police also cracked down on followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, arresting 25 "criminal suspects."

The arrests wrap up the first phase of China's Olympic Security
Protection and the country now embarks on the second phase, Chen said.

"From today on, all police officers must urgently get into action and
once again get into the various works of Olympic Public Security
Protection," Chen said.

Earlier this year, China announced
dozens of arrests in Xinjiang that it said were part of a plot by
Islamic terrorists to attack cities -- including Beijing and Shanghai
-- ahead of the summer Olympic Games, which begin on August 8.

China said the plots were linked to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
Organization, a terrorist group based outside China which sent its
leader Aji Mai Mai Ti to China late last year "to accelerate the
preparation on terrorism activities" targeting the Beijing Games.

The terrorist leader planned to target hotels in Beijing and Shanghai
that were frequented by foreigners, as well as government buildings and
military bases, according to a statement from the Ministry of Public
Security.

The terrorist cell inside China, led by Aji Mai Mai
Ti, carried out tests on poisonous meat, poisonous gas and remote
explosive devices as part of their plans, the ministry said.

The
group also planned to kidnap foreign journalists, tourists and Olympic
athletes "to make influences on international communities to undermine
the Beijing Olympics," the ministry said.

The Xinjiang
autonomous region is home to about 19 million people, most of whom are
Muslims and other minorities. Many of them oppose Beijing's rule. Human
rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch,
have raised concerns about China's crackdown on the Muslim religion in
Xinjiang.

"China continues to use the 'war
on terrorism' to justify policies to eradicate the 'three evil forces'
-- terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism -- allegedly
prevalent among Uighurs," Human Rights Watch said in a report earlier
this year.

"Uighurs who express 'separatist'
tendencies are routinely sentenced to quick, secret and summary trials,
sometimes accompanied by mass sentencing rallies. The death penalty is
common."

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/10/china.terror/index.html