China urges security forces to be on guard

BEIJING, July 13 (Reuters) China's security forces must be on guard against possible attacks from ''all kinds of hostile forces'' bent on disturbing a ''peaceful Olympics'', the country's top security official said today.

''We must fully understand the extreme importance of the security job for the upcoming Olympics,'' Central China Television quoted Luo Gan as saying during an anti-terrorist drill in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao, which will host the sailing competition during next year's Games.

''Crack down severely on all kinds of hostile forces and trouble-makers to conscientiously defend state safety,'' he told security forces, in a speech during the drill.

''We need to deploy our work surrounding the aim of a 'peaceful Olympics', further improve the social security system, and severely punish all kinds of crimes.'' China's military staged its first drills last month in Beijing, nearby Tianjin, and sites as far afield as the provinces of Hebei, Inner Mongolia and Shandong, to test its response readiness against potential terrorist attacks during the Games.

China has pledged to deliver a secure Games for a fraction of the 1.8 billion dollars that Athens paid in 2004 by relying on its own security forces.

Earlier last month, anti-terrorist police carried out a simulated mass hostage rescue in Beijing.

REUTERS DH VV1856