Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS May 20, 1997

Hong Kong AFP, 05/13/97

Beijing, May 13 (AFP) -- An explosion jolted a park next to Beijing's

Forbidden City on Tuesday afternoon, sending shivers through the

Chinese capital following a series of suspected terrorist bombings in

March. According to local residents near Zhongshan Park, which borders

the southwest wall of the Forbidden City, the blast was caused by a

lone suicide using explosives.

There were no official reports of any casualties. The park entrance

was blocked by uniformed police and ambulances were seen driving into

the park. "Some people were injured," a gatekeeper said. "We heard a

loud explosion from the park before 5:00 P.M.(0900 GMT)," said one

local resident.

A duty officer with the Public Security Bureau section responsible for

the park would only say that "an incident took place," but refused to

give any details.

Plainclothes police, wearing plastic gloves, could be seen inside the

park, searching the lawn and placing material into plastic bags. One

staff member of a restaurant inside the park confirmed the explosion,

but said she had been told not to answer questions from journalists.

Access roads on the west and east sides of the park were initially

blocked off by police, who lifted their checkpoints at 7:00 P.M. (1100

GMT).

On March 7, a bus bomb went off in Beijing, which has experienced

little terrorism. Muslim separatists from the northwestern region of

Xinjiang were suspected, but never officially blamed. Witnesses said

three people died in the bus blast, although the official version spoke

only of a dozen wounded. Laid-off workers were suspected of planting a

further two bombs in the capital later the same month -- one of which

exploded, slightly injuring one person.