The "violent terrorist gang" was based in the western Xinjiang region and headed by a man identified as Abdulrahman Tuersun, Public Security Ministry spokesman Wu Heping said at a news conference.

Wu said 35 people, including Tuersun and another man, Kuerban Mutalifu, were arrested between March 26 and April 6 for plotting to kidnap athletes, foreign journalists and other visitors to August's Olympics.

Sections of Xinjiang's Muslim Turkic Uighur ethnic group have staged a struggle for a breakaway state. "They wanted to make a global impact to sabotage the Beijing Olympics," Wu said, adding: "We face a real terrorist threat."

Wu urged residents to raise their alertness and contact police about suspicious people or incidents. China has tried to portray the insurgency in Xinjiang as linked to terrorist organizations in Central Asia and the Middle East. Evidence has often been scant, though, and some terror experts and overseas law enforcement officials have questioned whether such spies exist.

Wu said police confiscated explosive material, eight sticks of dynamite, two detonators, and "jihadist" literature in raids in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital. He said the gang hatched the Olympic plot in November and travelled through Xinjiang in March seeking recruits including those skilled in weapons and explosives.