Commissioner of Police Tang King-shing said there is no need to raise the security threat level in Hong Kong, but the SAR government would keep close contact with its counterpart on the mainland in the exchange of intelligence information.

The police chief's remark came after a terrorist group calling itself Turkistan Islamic Party in a video tape released on Saturday claimed that it would attack the main cities hosting the Olympics Games including Hong Kong next month.

The city's threat level remains "moderate" and there was no evidence that indicated Hong Kong as a terrorist target, the government said on Saturday.

"I reiterate that intelligence information is continuously at work and the police will not relax its vigilance during the Games...we would adjust the security level according to the actual situation," Tang said. "The government is confident of holding peaceful Olympics," the police chief added.

Meanwhile, Equestrian Events (Hong Kong) of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad Company Limited (Equestrian Company) has contingency plans to cope with any adjustment in security level.

"Up to this stage we haven't received any information of raising the security threat level (of the equestrian events)," chief executive officer Lam Woon-kwong said in a radio program yesterday.

The Equestrian Company has plans to coordinate with the requirement of Security Bureau and the police, Lam said, declining to give further details.

Meanwhile, the first batch of 32 horses arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday. Lam said the horses' health condition is satisfactory after initial inspection and they came out from stables of the Sha Tin venue to relax and adapt to the weather yesterday.

Altogether 277 horses from 42 teams would take part in the Games.

Reminding the participants to take measures to prevent heat stroke, the Equestrian Company said adequate drinking water would be provided.

Lam said ambulance team would put on at stand-by at the venues round-the-clock since operation.

Some of the equestrian athletes have moved into the local Olympic Village at Sha Tin on Saturday. Only visitors with valid passes will be allowed entry.

Speaking about the preparations for holding equestrian events, Lam said: "We had only two and a half years to prepare for the events, so it was a big challenge for us." It would also be exciting to see equestrian events featuring six mainland and four Hong Kong athletes for the first time, Lam added.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad allocated an extra 14,000 tickets for the events in addition to 60,000 tickets already sold out.

The last batch of tickets will be sold at China Travel Service tomorrow on a first-come and first-served basis.

(HK Edition 07/28/2008 page1)