Police are searching for a suspect who stabbed two foreign men and robbed one of them in two separate attacks on Wednesday afternoon in downtown Beijing.

Doctors said a Russian man was in critical condition after being stabbed four times in the arm and abdomen, The Beijing News reported.

The wife of a Russian man is waiting for her husband outside the surgery of Peking Union Medical Hospital. Two foreign men were stabbed in on downtown Beijing on October 29, 2008. The Russian man was in critical condition.

The other victim was a middle-aged American man who suffered minor wounds to his hands, back and legs, the report said.

Both men were being treated in Peking Union Medical Hospital.

Police said the suspect was a young man but didn't reveal his appearance. However, witnesses described him as 1.7 meters tall with short hair and wearing a dark coat.

The American was attacked at noon in a parking lot at Full Link Plaza in Chaoyang District. A newspaper vendor just 20 meters from the scene told the newspaper the attack took less than one minute as the foreigner walked across the parking lot. A plaza security guard flagged down a taxi to send the injured man to the hospital.

The Russian was attacked about 2:30 pm at a fast-food restaurant near Beijing Railway Station, the report said.

"The man grabbed the foreigner's bag and stabbed him," the manager of the restaurant told the newspaper. "Then he ran away with the bag."

The manager said the restaurant's security camera footage showed the robbery took only several seconds.

A waitress in the restaurant saw the suspect flee toward Beijing Railway Station, the report said.

The Russian man's wife told the newspaper that her husband had arrived in Beijing only two days earlier. She said her husband's bag contained a 20,000 yuan (US$2,941) laptop, plus cash and other valuables.

(Shanghai Daily October 31, 2008)