World | UK
Arrests mar Olympic torch arrival in London
Police scuffled with protesters as Olympians and celebrities carried the Olympic torch through snowy London during a chaotic relay on Sunday.
- AP
- Published: 10:00 April 6, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- Police repeatedly scuffled with protesters as the torch made its way across London.
London: Police scuffled with protesters as Olympians and celebrities carried the Olympic torch through snowy London during a chaotic relay on Sunday.
Demonstrators tried to board a relay bus after five-time Olympic gold medalist rower Steve Redgrave launched procession at Wembley Stadium- presaging a number of clashes with police along the torch's 31-mile journey.
There have been 25 arrests, Metropolitan Police said.
Later, in west London, another protester tried to grab the torch, forcing police to briefly stop the procession as officers moved in to grab the man. Another demonstrator tried to snuff out the flame with what appeared to be a fire extinguisher.
A few miles down the route, dozens of Chinese supporters of the Olympics were waving large China flags outside the British Museum. Around the corner, several dozen protesters were chanting "Free Tibet."
Activists demonstrating China's human rights record and a recent crackdown on Tibet have been protesting along the torch route since the start of the flame's 85,000-mile odyssey from Ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
In London, host of the next Olympics in 2012, dozens of dignitaries, athletes and celebrities lined the route.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he will greet the torch outside his 10 Downing Street home during journey from Wembley Stadium in the northwest to Greenwich in the southeast, shrugging off a call from some opposition politicians not to participate in the ceremony.
"It is also important to recognise, when you ask the question about the Olympic torch, that the Dalai Lama himself has said that he does not want to see a boycott of the Olympics," Brown said on Saturday.
The torch's global tour is the longest in Olympic history and is meant to highlight China's growing economic and political power. But it has also offered protest groups abundant opportunity to draw attention to their concerns.
"People are traveling from across the country and Europe as well to participate," said spokesman Terry Bettger of the Free Tibet Campaign.
London's Metropolitan Police said it was aware of six organisations, including the Free Tibet campaign, the spiritual group Falun Gong and a group calling for democracy in Myanmar, planning to protest. The force plans to deploy 2,000 officers along the torch route.
The Chinese ambassador to Britain, whose role as a torchbearer has become a focus of protesters' ire, said the Olympics should be viewed as a sporting event.
Among the 80 torchbearers scheduled to take part are double Olympic gold medal-winning runner Kelly Holmes, news anchor Trevor MacDonald and violinist Vanessa Mae.
Several high-profile torchbearers have dropped out to protest China's human rights record.
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