Oman insists Torch will burn freely

Muscat: Oman has assured an incident-free, safe and peaceful leg for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch, which arrives at the Sultanate today and 80 bearers will carry the flame over a 20km route in the evening.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Torch, which arrives in Muscat from Dar-Es-Salam in Tanzania, has gone through a tumultuous journey, since it began from Ancient Olympia in Greece and weaved through large scale protests in London, Paris, San Francisco and Buenos Aires on the grounds of human rights violations in Tibet.

Unlike the caged run it went through in these cities, the Olympic flame will be open for the entire 20-km route that will start at the foothills of Al Bustan district and end at the Qurum Nature park after almost 210 minutes.

"We are a very peaceful country and we don't see any problem or protests here in Muscat," said the Oman Olympic Committee (OCC) Vice-President Habib Bin Abdulnabi Macki.

At the same time he stressed that any attempts to disrupt the relay in Muscat would be severely dealt with. "The Royal Oman Police (ROP) will deal with any such incident with a strong hand," he assured.

He opposed the attempts to politicise the whole issue. "We are against this politicising of the torch relay issue and we completely disagree with the protests," he stressed.

"We follow the International Olympic Committee (IOC) charter of no politicising of sports."

Confident

Muscat is the only city in the Middle East chosen for the relay leg on its way to Beijing along the Silk Route. And Macki vowed to make this event a grand success.

"Nothing has hampered our preparations and we are confident that everything will go as good as we have planned if not better," he reiterated.

"The Sultanate's capital is hosting the Olympic torch relay for the first time and we want to make this a historic occasion. The rehearsal on Wednesday was successful and we are now just waiting for the flame to arrive," he enthused.

About 80 torch-bearers will run 20km through old Sidab and Muscat town then move to the Corniche before taking the Darsait Heights on the way to Qurum Natural Park.

"Each runner will run about 200 metres," Macki revealed. "Along the route there will be traditional music and dance shows to entertain the people. Schoolchildren from both Omani and expatriate schools will line up on both sides of the road. There will also be a grand cultural programme at the floating theatre in Qurum Natural Park," said Ebrahim Khamber, a member of the Torch Relay Organising Committee in Muscat.

Sayyid Shihab Bin Tariq Al Said, Adviser to Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed, will be the first torch-bearer and he will receive the torch from chief guest Sayyid Al Mutassim Bin Hamoud Al Busaidy, the Minister of State and Governor of Muscat.

Macki also revealed a cricketer will provide some star appeal. He said: "We had the choice of selecting one celebrity from outside the Sultanate and we have invited Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri."