A crowd of Chinese onlookers heckled a Japanese family carrying a pro-Tibet banner Monday before the Olympic torch was carried through the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

Witnesses said the onlookers, who carried Chinese flags and waved banners that read "No one can split China" and "The Torch will spread around the world," also hit the two adults, a brother and sister, and the woman's five-year-old son with inflated plastic batons.

Kuala Lumpur police detained the family, and took a Buddhist monk and a British woman wearing a "Free Tibet" T-shirt into custody.

Police Chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman said the family was detained "only for documentation" and the woman and monk because they were not carrying their passports. They were all released later.

A group of Chinese lion dancers and drummers started the four-hour run shortly after the family was detained.

Imran Jaafar, the president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia, was the first of 80 athletes to carry the torch on the 16-kilometre relay through the city's downtown, guarded by roughly 1,000 policemen.

The torch's procession around the world began with chaotic scenes in Europe and San Francisco as pro-Tibet protesters clashed with police, demanding China pay heed to demands for autonomy for Tibet and stop the crackdown it began in the beleaguered territory last month.

China dismissed the protests as ill-informed and politically motivated and said politics should be kept out of the Olympics.

France apologizes to torch bearer

Also Monday, the disabled woman who was attacked while carrying the torch in Paris received a letter of apology from French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The letter, dated Saturday, to fencing athlete Jin Jing hailed her courage and blasted the "inadmissible" attack on her by a pro-Tibet protester.

Sarkozy wrote that the protesters' activities during the Paris leg of the relay "do not reflect the feelings of my countrymen toward the Chinese people." He also said he would like the athlete, who clung to the torch when a protester tried to grab it, to return to Paris as his "personal guest" in the coming weeks "to try to erase this painful moment."

Indonesia shortens torch run

Meanwhile Monday, Indonesian organizers announced that Tuesday's relay would be shortened to roughly 6.5 kilometres in an attempt to thwart anti-China protests.

The relay was originally scheduled to follow a route through the capital Jakarta but will now take place on streets outside a sports stadium and will be heavily guarded by 2,500 police officers. 

Organizing committee head Sumohadi Marsis told reporters that members of the public would be barred and only 5,000 guests would be invited to watch the event.

"We have to make it limited," he said, adding that the event would not be televised live because no station was prepared to pay for the rights.

The only other country to hold the event as invitation-only was Pakistan, which cited security fears.

In Japan, organizers said Saturday's torch relay in Nagano will start in a parking lot after a major Buddhist temple backed out of the event over security concerns and sympathy for Tibetans.

With files from the Associated Press