CHINA SENTENCES 2 TO DEATH FOR ATTACK IN XINJIANG

December 17, 2008: A Chinese court sentenced two people to death for what it said was attempt to sabotage the Beijing Olympics with an attack in the far-west region of Xinjiang that killed 17 police days before the games.
The Xinhua News Agency said the sentences were handed down by the Kashgar Intermediate People's Court. It did not give any other details.
The Aug. 4 attack, four days before the start of the Olympics, took place in the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan. Two men stole a truck and rammed it into a group of police on their morning jog. The men continued attacking with homemade bombs and knives, killing the officers and wounding 15 others.
"The Kashgar court said the two conducted the terrorist attack to sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games that began Aug. 8," Xinhua reported.
It identified the two as Kashgar natives, Abdurahman Azat, 33, and Kurbanjan Hemit, 28. (Sources: AP, 17/12/2008)