A top official from China's ethnically divided far western region of Xinjiang on Friday played down the threat of terrorism and said he was confident that security forces were capable of preventing any attacks during the Olympics, according to DPA. "To be frank, I wish to say that at the moment in Xinjiang there are only a limited number of sabotage activities by 'East Turkestan' forces or groups," Kurexi Maihesuti, the vice-chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, told reporters. East Turkestan is the name for Xinjiang used by independence activists from the Uighur and other non-Chinese ethnic groups in the region. "These terrorists groups are not at all as capable as some media organizations have said," Kurexi Maihesuti said. He said many groups were "only lawless people" who were "not capable of instigating a massive sabotage activity". He said Xinjiang had experienced "a very small number of sabotage activities, and many of them have been stopped in the early days".
