Monday, April 7, 2008, Rabi Ul Awal 29,1429    

Olympic flame crosses Russia’s imperial capital

Saint Petersburg—The Olympic flame was relayed across Russia’s imperial capital Saint Petersburg on Saturday as demonstrators prepared to protest rights abuses by China, the host of this summer’s Games.

Russia’s 1952 shot-put gold medallist Galina Zybina was the first of 80 torch-bearers in a 20 kilometre (12 mile) relay from a World War II memorial in the south to the world-renowned Hermitage art museum in the city centre.

Around 2,000 people waved Olympic and Russian flags on Victory Square at the start of the relay in elaborate ceremony dedicated to the 81 city residents who have won Olympic gold medals.

Flanked by soldiers in period uniforms and a military band, city governor Valentina Matviyenko said it was “deeply symbolic” that Zybina, a survivor of the city’s 1941-43 Nazi blockade, was starting the relay.

After its arrival, the city administration kept the flame’s whereabouts secret, despite the lack of any obvious threat of disruption. China’s neighbour Russia is one of Beijing’s closest diplomatic allies.—AFP