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Protestors disrupt Olympic
flame relay in Paris
Monitoring Report
PROTESTS against the Olympic torch relay ahead of the Beijing Games
have spread to France’s capital, Paris.
Four people were arrested, including two who were taking part in
demonstrations critical of Chinese rule in Tibet, AFP news agency
said.
Officials twice extinguished the torch and put it on a bus for
safety reasons.
Earlier, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC),
Jacques Rogge, expressed concern over unrest in Tibet and the torch
protests.
The French protests come after 37 people were arrested during
pro-Tibet protests which disrupted Sunday’s relay in London.
Security in Paris was extremely tight, with some 3,000 police on
duty, riding motorcycles, jogging or on skates.
About 500 protesters were reported to be involved in the
demonstrations, mainly near the Eiffel Tower.
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.
Police twice put out the torch and carried it onto a bus, although
the flame itself was kept alight in a safety lantern.
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 (AP) reported.
Speaking in Beijing earlier, IOC President Jacques Rogge said the
IOC “called for a rapid, peaceful resolution of Tibet”.
China has expressed disgust at the torch protests in London. He also
condemned attempts to disrupt the Olympic torch relay, saying
violence “is not compatible with the values” of 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 reported.
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.
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