Paris protests douse Olympic torch

Published on Tuesday 8 April 2008 01:36

SECURITY officials were forced to extinguish the Olympic torch four times and cut short its passage through Paris yesterday as anti-China protests turned violent.

Riot police in body armour clashed with demonstrators waving Tibetan flags on the latest stage of the torch's relay that is due to cover 20 countries ahead of the Beijing Olympics. The Chinese have described it as a "journey of harmony".

Despite a security cordon of 3,000 police, some on roller blades, activists protesting against China's crackdown in Tibet managed to disrupt seriously the latest leg of the torch's 85,000-mile journey from Olympia in Greece to Beijing, where the games take place in August.

Organisers were eventually forced to abandon the relay of the Olympic torch through the French capital as a result of disruption by thousands of pro– Tibetan protesters. After a number of incidents, the decision was taken shortly before 5pm to take the Olympic flame by bus to its final French destination, the Charlty Stadium.

Shortly before, the flame had passed the National Assembly, where 40 MPs from all parties, sporting their red, white and blue sashes, shouted "Freedom for Tibet".

A ceremony in front of the city hall was cancelled at the request of Chinese officials, after elected Paris officials displayed the Tibetan flag and unrolled a banner showing the five Olympic rings transformed into five interlocking handcuffs.

The French demonstrations followed the arrest of 37 people during pro-Tibet protests that disrupted Sunday's torch relay in London.

Last night it appeared that the tradition of an international torch relay could be abandoned for the 2012 Olympics in London.

Officials are drawing up plans to carry a torch around the UK, but the 70-year-old tradition of an Olympic flame lit in Greece and carried around the world by athletes may not be continued.

A spokeswoman for the London Olympics denied that the uncertainty about an international relay was in response to the pro-Tibetan demonstrations.

Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, expressed concern over both the situation in Tibet and the torch protests. "The International Olympic Committee calls for a rapid, peaceful resolution in Tibet," he said. He also condemned attempts to disrupt the torch relay, saying violent protests, "for whatever reason", are "not compatible with the values of the torch relay or the Olympic Games".

Even before the chaos in London, Paris police had conceived an elaborate security plan to keep the torch in a safe "bubble". French torchbearers were to be encircled by several hundred police officers, some in anti-riot vehicles and on motorcycles, others on skates and on foot.

However, things started to go wrong almost from the start.

A member of the French Green Party was restrained by police after trying to grab the torch from the first of the 80 bearers, Stephane Diagana, the former world 400-metres hurdles champion.

Diagana said afterwards: "Nothing's happening as it was meant to. It's a shame. It's sad because of what this symbol represents, but it can be explained by the context we're aware of."

Police were forced a number of times to extinguish the torch and transfer it to a bus, as officers cleared protesters from the route. The Olympic flame itself was kept alight in a safety lantern.

At least 18 people were arrested, including the vice-president of the Greater Paris council.

Meanwhile, three protesters climbed up the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and tied the Tibetan flag and two banners to its cables. The banners read "One World One Dream. Free Tibet"

Last night the US Democratic Party presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, called on the president, George Bush, to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics unless China improved its human rights record.

&#149 Fiona Hyslop, the education secretary, who was in China yesterday raised concerns about human rights, particularly the situation in Tibet.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Fiona Hyslop did raise the Scottish Government's concerns with China's vice-minister of education."

HARMONY IN SHORT SUPPLY

WHEN the route of the Olympic torch was unveiled in Beijing a year ago, there was concern at the plan to take it on to Mount Everest.

Campaigners had been arrested days earlier at the base of the mountain for demanding Tibet's independence after more than 50 years of Chinese occupation.

There was also surprise that Taiwan – seen as a rebel state by China's Communist leaders – was on the route. Taiwan's government only let the torch to go on to the island after guarantees that this would not compromise its status.

The relay, beginning with the torch lighting in Olympia, Greece, was to pass through 21 cities and last 130 days. It was dubbed a "journey of harmony" – something that now seems laughable.