A 19-year-old ethnic Uygur woman from Xinjiang was caught trying to set off a bomb on a China Southern Airlines' flight, from Urumqi to Beijing, according to media reports.

Flight attendants noticed the smell of petroleum and traced it back to the girl who had tried to cover it with strong perfume.

Reports are circulating that the suspects were caught trying to ignite the fuel in the bathroom. The 19-year-old is one of an unconfirmed number of suspects that could include another girl.

The plane was subsequently diverted to the city of Lanzhou in Gansu province, where the substances were removed, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said.

The chairman of the Xinjiang regional government said on March 9 that the plane plot was carried out by people "attempting to create an air disaster."

The alleged plot was the second foiled attack linked to Muslim separatists in Xinjiang to be announced over the weekend.

These latest "terrorism" incidents come in the wake of a January raid on "terrorists" - which resulted in the shooting of two militants and 15 arrests - had foiled a planned attack directed at the Olympic Games.

But organizers of Beijing Olympics sought to play down security concerns looming over the Games.

"We are confident that we will be able to have a safe Olympics," said Sun Weide, a spokesman from Beijing's Olympic Organising Committee.

Sun gave no indication as to whether any new measures had been put in place since the announcement of the apparent terror threats.

It was the first specific threat against this summer's Olympics to be reported by authorities, although Chinese officials had previously warned that terrorism was the biggest threat to the Games.