The Chinese Saga of Olympic Shame Interrupted -- Protests cut short
Olympic relay / BBC
Protests cut short Olympic relay
Hundreds of protesters were on the streets of Paris
French security officials have been forced to cut short the Paris leg of
the Olympic torch relay following anti-Chinese protests along the route.
The torch was extinguished three times due to the protests before being
taken on a bus to the relay's end point.
It comes after 37 people were arrested in London as protesters disrupted
the torch relay there on Sunday.
The Olympic flame is being carried through 20 countries before arriving
for the Beijing Games in August.
The Paris relay started to go wrong almost from the start, despite the
presence of 3,000 police along the route, riding motorcycles, jogging or
on skates.
A member of the French Green party was restrained by police after
attempting to grab the torch from the first of Paris's 80 torch bearers,
former world 400 metres hurdles champion Stephane Diagana, Reuters news
agency said.
"Nothing's happening as it was meant to," Mr Diagana told French TV.
"It's a shame. It's sad because of what this symbol represents but it
can be explained by the context we're aware of."
Police were forced three times to put out the torch and carried it onto
a bus, as police cleared protesters from the route.
On the second occasion, the flame was being relayed out of a Paris
traffic tunnel by an athlete in a wheelchair when it was taken onto a
bus because protesters booed and began chanting "Tibet", the Associated
Press news agency re****ted.
The flame itself has been kept alight the whole time in a safety lantern.
The International Olympic Committee has expressed its serious concern
and calls for a rapid peaceful resolution in Tibet
Jacques Rogge, IOC President
Later, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe cancelled a ceremony to welcome the
torch relay after Green party activists hung a Tibetan flag and a black
banner depicting the Olympic rings as handcuffs from the Hotel de Ville
(city hall).
Activists have hung Tibetan flags or the black banners from several
other Paris landmarks including the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame cathedral.
Several hundred protesters have been involved in the demonstrations,
near the Eiffel Tower and along the torch's zig-zag route through Paris
to a stadium in the south of the city.
Finally, after several delays, security officials decided to put the
torch on a bus to take it to Stade Charlety, where it arrived 30 minutes
late at 1530 GMT).
Olympic appeal
The Paris relay was meant to be a colourful advertisement for the
Beijing Games, instead it has turned into a grotesque embarrassment,
says the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris.
Speaking in Beijing earlier on Monday, IOC President Jacques Rogge said
he was concerned over both the recent unrest in Paris and the torch
protests.
"The International Olympic Committee has expressed its serious concern
and calls for a rapid peaceful resolution in Tibet," Mr Rogge said.
China has expressed disgust at the torch protests in London
He condemned the attempts to disrupt the torch relay, saying violent
protests, "for whatever reason," are "not compatible with the values of
the torch relay or the Olympic Games".
China said the protests during London's Sunday torch relay were the work
of "a few Tibetan separatists" attempting "to sabotage" the event, AP
re****ted.
London's relay saw protesters trying to douse and even snatch the
Olympic flame as athletes and celebrities carried it through the city.
The demonstrations have been sparked by China's security crackdown in
Tibet following a series of protests against Chinese rule which swept
the region last month.
Tibetan exile groups say Chinese security forces killed dozens of
protesters. Beijing says about 19 people were killed in rioting.
The torch was lit in Olympia, Greece, on 24 March and will go through 20
countries before being carried into the opening ceremony at the Beijing
Games on 8 August.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7334545.stm
Published: 2008/04/07 16:23:18 GMT
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