China's State-run media reminded spectators not to bring banned items to Olympic sports venues - including long umbrellas, cigarette lighters and soft drinks - as part of the massive security operation and publicity campaign in the lead up to the Beijing Games. The official Xinhua News Agency said security staff are under orders to confiscate any banned items and will not return them to spectators. "As long as there is a security risk, security personnel get to remove it," Xinhua said. Chinese security officials have claimed the Games are a potential terrorist target for Muslim separatists from Xinjiang in northwestern China, or from international terror groups. Xinjiang police said on Wednesday they had shot dead five members of an alleged Muslim terrorist gang earlier in the week after surrounding a house in the city of Urumqi. Exiles from Xinjiang say the terror threat has been exaggerated by authorities and used as a pretext to tighten security in the predominantly Muslim region, which is populated by ethnic Uyghurs who have their own language and culture. State media also reported Wednesday that hundreds of road blocks will be set up around Beijing from next week to check traffic coming into the city. Sniffer dogs looking for explosives and staff using metal detectors and other security scanners will be deployed at some of the checkpoints, Xinhua reported.
