China denies hotel attack warning

Expensive hotels in Beijing could be at risk, the US statement said

China has denied issuing a warning that Islamic militants were planning attacks on luxury hotels in the country.

A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said the report was a "sham" fabricated by a foreign citizen.

The US embassy in Beijing said on Wednesday that Chinese police had warned hotels of possible attacks.

The embassy retracted the statement on Thursday, saying Chinese authorities had found that the source of the threat was "not credible".

The warning came at a particularly sensitive time, as US President George is due to visit China later this month.

A spokesman for China's foreign ministry, Liu Jianchao, said on Thursday that the American report was a result of "false information".

"China's Ministry of Public Security has never issued any such warning to China's hotels, so it's safe to stay in China's hotels," Mr Liu told reporters.

He said security officials had informed him that an anonymous foreigner had issued a false report.

China is often accused of exaggerating the threat of Islamic militancy to justify its crackdown on groups such as its Uighur minority in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang.