Heavily guarded athletes pass Olympic torch in Pakistan
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 | 8:37 AM ET
CBC News
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf delivers a speech at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Monday in this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency.
(Liu Weibing/Xinhua/Associated Press)
Protests against China's human rights record have disrupted the torch's passage through Western cities and Pakistan went to great lengths to avoid any repeat during its 22-hour stay en route to Beijing, changing the route of the procession and restricting attendance at official events to a closely monitored invitation list.
The torch, which arrived from Oman early Wednesday amid tight security, was originally scheduled to be carried on a more than three-kilometre route through the capital, starting at parliament.
The event was moved to Jinnah Stadium, the capital's main sports complex, and restricted to guests invited by the Pakistan Olympic Association. The public could watch the event on live television.
Officials said the route was changed for security reasons and the risk of bad weather. The weather was fine Wednesday.
President Pervez Musharraf, who had just returned from China, presented the flame to the first runner, then watched the procession from the stands.
"I would like the people of China. who are our closest friends. to know that we stand with you and support you in this glorious event you host for the entire world," he said.
Then, guarded by thousands of police and sniffer dogs, about 60 Pakistani and Chinese athletes took turns carrying the torch on access roads around the perimeter of the stadium. A display of folk music and dancing were scheduled to occur afterward.
Next stop: India
The flame, which began its worldwide six-continent trek from ancient Olympia in Greece on March 24, is due in India on Thursday.
India and China have had frosty relations in recent years, but trade is growing between them. India also hosts the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, his exile government and his hundreds of thousands of his followers.
In India's capital, New Delhi, about 100 Tibetan exiles tried to breach the security cordon around the Chinese Embassy on Wednesday.
They were pushed back by Indian police and two dozen were arrested and taken away in police vans.
India, too, is taking strict security measures, restricting the route of the torch and keeping the timing of the relay a secret, according to CBC's Michel Cormier in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, an official in Australia said Wednesday that Chinese guards travelling with the torch could face arrest if they lay hands on any protesters during its visit to the capital, Canberra, next week.
Ted Quinlan, chairman of the Canberra relay task force, said the so-called torch attendants will have no responsibility for security.
"The answer is no they won't and, in fact, they could be subject to arrest in fact if they laid a hand on somebody," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Chinese officials clad in distinctive blue track suits and recruited from paramilitary police forces have been accompanying the flame. The guards were criticized for heavy-handed tactics in the London and Paris legs of the torch relay.
Wth files from the Associated Press
