China confident of safe Olympics

BEIJING, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Chinese Olympic officials say they are confident of keeping the Beijing Games safe and secure despite the attack in Xinjiang in which 16 policemen died.

The Olympic Games are to begin Friday and Beijing organizing committee spokesman Sun Weide said officials are confident of holding a worry-free event with the help of the government and the international community, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The Monday attack at a border police post in northwest Xinjiang province also injured 16 more policemen.

Xinjiang -- close to the borders of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan -- is home to China's 8 million Turkic-speaking Uighur Muslims who resent what they see as China's attempt to dominate the region by encouraging the migration of ethnic Han Chinese.

Chinese authorities have said they are concerned militant groups from the region may try to disrupt the Games.

"An effective command system has been established and we have strengthened cooperation in security work, including information exchange and the combat against terrorism, with other countries, especially those which hosted the Games before," Sun said.

The International Olympic Committee says it believes Chinese authorities have done everything possible "to ensure the security and safety of everyone at the Games," the BBC reported.