[Ceriopal]

In line with its ongoing efforts to improve air-quality, China puts the Olympic torch on the bus.



Olympic Torch Relay in Paris Disrupted; Flame on Bus

By Gregory Viscusi
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April 7 (Bloomberg) -- The passage of the Olympic flame through Paris was disrupted, with police twice placing the torch on a bus after failing to keep pro-Tibetan protesters at bay.

The flame was carried from the first floor of the Eiffel Tower today to cross Paris on its way to the Beijing games. Within the first hour of its intended four-hour tour, it was temporarily extinguished for technical reasons, i-Tele news channel reported.

The torch was placed aboard a bus as protesters against China's crackdown in Tibet blocked its path. At least five people were arrested, Agence France-Presse said.

The first person carrying the flame on today's 28-kilometer (18-mile) run through the French capital was Stephane Diagana, the 1997 400-meter world champion hurdler.

The Paris leg of the relay was accompanied by 48 police cars, 65 motorcycles, 100 policemen on roller blades, and 100 jogging firemen whose aim was to avert protests such as those that held up the flame's progress through London yesterday.

Robert Menard, secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based rights group that disrupted the lighting of the Olympic flame in Greece on March 24, called the Paris security measures ``shameful.'' He called in a statement for protests that won't block the relay.

Paris City Hall, which is on the route, hung a banner saying ``Paris Defends Human Rights Throughout the World.''

Tibet Riots

China is facing international criticism for its crackdown in Tibet in response to last month's riots in the capital, Lhasa, and neighboring provinces, the most serious protests in 20 years.

The U.S. and European Union said they won't boycott the August Olympics after French President Nicolas Sarkozy raised the issue last month.

The French president will monitor China's progress on rights before deciding whether to attend the Beijing opening ceremonies, his spokesman said. France will hold the European Union's rotating presidency for the second half of this year, making Sarkozy the EU's leading statesman during that time.

Police arrested 37 people during yesterday's demonstrations in London. One protester tried to put out the torch with a fire extinguisher and another attempted to grab it from Konnie Huq, a television personality who was one of the people carrying the flame. There were no injuries, London police said.

Chinese View

China views the demonstrations as contrary to the Olympic spirit because the torch belongs to the world, China's official Xinhua News Agency cited an unidentified spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee as saying yesterday. Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, also condemned any use of violence during the relay, Agence France-Presse reported.

The relay is planned to be the longest in Olympic history, covering 137,000 kilometers and 21 countries where it will be carried by 20,000 bearers. After Paris, the flame will be flown to San Francisco and then to Buenos Aires.

It is scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong on May 2 and mainland China two days later. The flame is due to pass through Tibet from June 19 to 21, when it will be taken to the summit of Mount Everest.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, supports holding the Games in Beijing and called on Tibetans not to disrupt the event, according to a statement on his Web site.

China, which sent troops to Tibet in 1950 and annexed the Himalayan region a year later, accuses the Dalai Lama of trying to divide the country and has rejected his assurances he is seeking autonomy, not independence, for Tibet.

The Dalai Lama set up a government-in-exile in northern India when he fled Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Paris at gviscusi@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 7, 2008 08:03 EDT