Posted on 04/07/2008 9:10:21 AM PDT by tellw
The Olympic torch relay in Paris has been cut short after chaotic protests by anti-China demonstrators.
Torch had to be put outThe flame had already been extinguished four times by security forces after repeated clashes with pro-Tibet and human rights campaigners.
The city's mayor also cancelled a ceremony to mark the torch's passing as officials draped a Tibetan flag over the city hall's facade.
Mayor Bertrand Delanoe announced the cancellation after Green party members of the city council flew the flag.
Thousands of police sent on to the streets to protect the torch relay as it made its way around the city were unable to prevent demonstrators hijacking the event.
The torch had to be repeatedly extinguished amid safety fears caused by the demonstrations and several activists were arrested.
Two campaigners brandishing a Tibetan flag were arrested for trying to bar the torch's path.
And two members of media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) - which disrupted the lighting of the flame in Athens - were held for trying to vault over the security cordon protecting the torch.
A member of the French Greens party had earlier been restrained by police when trying to grab the torch from the first of 80 torch bearers, former world 400m hurdles champion Stephane Diagana.
Bus upon which torch had to be carriedSeveral hundred demonstrators waving banners gathered on the Trocadero esplanade, just the other side of the river Seine from the Eiffel Tower, where the relay started.
Three RSF members climbed up the steel tower and unfurled a 13ft flag showing the five Olympic rings turned into handcuffs.
They then handcuffed themselves to the structure more than 200ft in the air.
Sky News Europe correspondent Greg Milam said extinguishing the flame was significant because the torch was supposed to be kept alight on its journey around the world.
"It's supposed to symbolise peace between nations," he said.
Protests overshadowed procession"It's clearly a massive blow to the organisers - the demonstrations along the route have had the desired effect."
Similarly chaotic scenes were seen when the Olympic flame was carried through London.
One demonstrator tried to snatch the torch from former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq, while another attempted to put out the flame with a fire extinguisher.
By the time double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes lit a cauldron at the O2 Arena, some 37 arrests had been made.
International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge has expressed concern at the demonstrations but said there was no momentum for a boycott of the Beijing Games.
Tibet's capital, Lhasa, was hit last month by Buddhist monks' protests against Chinese rule.
The demonstrations, which saw many people killed, sparked widespread media attention across the world.
Interesting how the Greens are anti-communists now.
Olympic Torch Relay cut short?....
So what?....boring!
I think it's more that the China is no longer considered Communist - in the eyes of the Greens they are a fascist/capitalist tyranny...just like the United States. ;)
True, China isn’t really practicing Communism, but it still is a one-party state ruled by the Communist Party and Mao Tse Tung’s portrait still hangs over Tiananmen Square.
So how much of the equipment those guys are wearing was “Made in China”?
At least the movie stars are exercised about Tibet.
Every democracy in the free world should boycott these Olympics. Let all the money China spent on it go to waste.
Yeah, gulags are funny/sarc
Do you know anything at all about Tibet and the genocide which has been ongoing there? From the sound of your post, the answer is an unequivocal NO.
Let me know when the monks turn in their robes for AK 47's and I'll support their fight. Otherwise it just sounds like a bunch of weenies that want someone else to do their fighting for them.
Ask yourself right now how you will react when they attack Taiwan. It's coming and I'll bet we won't support our ally that we have had since the '1940's. What the hell is so different about Tibet than the other grievances that China has done over the years? If we were concerned about human rights, we could have acted against them decades ago. Now, because Hollywood is bitchin, we start to pay attention. Am I supposed to get extra upset because Richard Gere is marchin down the avenue now. He didn't care when Christians were being murdered.
It is interesting to note that Taiwan just elected a president that is friendly towards China and turned out one that was unfriendly towards its mainland neighbor.
Look at Spain after the bombings. Iraq is looking at us threatening to leave AFTER we stir up Iran. These people would be much more bold if they could count on us. As it is now, they will fold like a lawn chair and we will wonder why nothing ever goes our way. If we help Tibet, we may lose our cheap supply of WalMart toys.
In the next 10 years we could lose S. Korea to N. Korea, Taiwan to China, and Iraq( and probably most of the ME) to Iran, and most of South and Central America to Chavez, if nobody shows any backbone. Not to mention the Soviet Union emerging from the ashes.
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