BEIJING, April 10: Chinese authorities foiled plots to kidnap foreigners and carry out suicide attacks around the Beijing Olympics, police said on Thursday, in a fresh blow to the image of harmony China has sought to promote before the Games.

The European Parliament, meanwhile, voted for a possible boycott by EU leaders of the Olympics opening ceremony if China fails to talk to the Dalai Lama, raising pressure on Beijing over the way it has handled a recent wave of unrest in Tibet and neighbouring areas.

Authorities in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang detained 45 suspects and seized explosives and firearms in an operation a police spokesman said cracked two terrorist groups seeking to disrupt the Olympics.

“We are facing a real terrorist threat. All walks of life and the public should maintain a high degree of vigilance,” police spokesman Wu Heping told a news conference.

Meanwhile, China’s ambassador to the United States condemned a purported attempt to disrupt the US leg of the relay, saying such “disgusting” conduct was doomed to fail.

“A tiny group of people ignored the spirit of the Olympic charter and tried to disrupt and sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games,” the official Xinhua news agency quoted Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong as saying.—Reuters