2008 Olympic Games.

Local policeman clashes with a protester (bottom) during the Olympic torch relay in London, capital of Britain, April 6, 2008. A few “pro-Tibet independence” activists tried to sabotage the torch relay, stirring clashes with British police. At least 25 people were arrested. (Xinhua/Qi Heng)

    BEIJING, April 6 (Xinhua) — A Beijing Olympic official on Sunday strongly criticized the attempt by some “pro-Tibet independence” activists to sabotage the torch relay event in London, as an obvious act of defying the Olympic spirit.

    A spokesman from the torch relay center of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee said that as the highest symbol of the Olympic spirit, the Olympic flame represents peace, friendship and progress. Under the authorization of the International Olympic Committee, the Beijing Olympic torch relay is taking its journey of harmony throughout the world, sharing the passion and glory of the Olympics with the world, and has received warm welcome from the people en route.

    However, a few “pro-Tibet independence” activists attempted to sabotage the torch relay in London today, which is a serious violation of the Olympic spirit, as the Olympic flame belongs to the world, the spokesman said. The act will surely arouse the resentment of the peace-loving people, and is bound to fail, he added.

    London welcomes the Beijing Olympic flame on Sunday as part of the global Olympic Torch Relay in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games. As a grand festival in London, tens of thousands of people lined the route of the relay to cheer the event, far outnumbering the protesters.

    Yet some protesters tried to sabotage the torch relay, by trying to grab the torch or extinguish it, stirring clashes with British police. At least 25 people were arrested.

    The torch is traveling through ten London boroughs from Wembley in the west to Greenwich in east London, with each borough marking its arrival with entertainment and local events, bringing London’s color and vibrancy to life while showcasing the capital’s famous landmarks.

Jiang Xiaoyu (L front), the executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), walks out of the cabin with the lantern which holds the Olympic flame in his hands at the airport in London, capital of Britain, April 5, 2008. London is the fourth leg of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games flame global tour.(Xinhua/Zhou Wenjie)

    By sportswriter Zhang Rongfeng

    LONDON, April 5 (Xinhua) — The Olympic flame for the Beijing Games landed Saturday in London, the 2012 Olympics host city, setting out for the largest city relay outside the Chinese mainland.

    The Olympic flame will be carried through London as part of the global Olympic flame journey. Large crowds are expected to cheer for the 80 torchbearers, including Paralympics, Olympic athletes and celebrities as they carry the torch through 10 London boroughs from Wembley to Greenwich.

    As the host of the 2012 Olympic Games, London relay is designed to cover the longest route.

    The first torchbearer is Steve Redgrave, quintuple Olympic gold medallist rower from Marlow Bottom. After striking gold in Sydney, Redgrave became the only English athlete ever to have won gold medals in five consecutive Olympic Games. His first Olympic gold came in the coxed fours in Los Angeles in 1984, followed by gold with Andy Holmes in the coxless pairs at Seoul in 1988, gold with Matthew Pinsent in the coxless pairs at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Jiang Xiaoyu (Front,R2), the executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), greets the representatives of London with the lantern which holds the Olympic flame in his hands at the airport in London, capital of Britain, April 5, 2008. (Xinhua/Zhou Wenjie)

    In the Downing Street, prime minister Gordon Brown will meet a special torchbearer Ali Jawad, a disabled athlete on wheelchair, who is on the brink of qualification for the Beijing Paralympics.

    The last bearer is Dame Kelly Holmes, a retired English middle-distance athlete. She won gold medals in the 800m and 1500m at the 2004 Summer Games.

    A mixed Chinese-English Emily Giles will run in the relay. “Being selected to help carry the Olympic torch for the Beijing Games would mean so much for me. With roots in China on my mother’s side and England on my father’s, I feel I can symbolize the links between these games and the next,” said Giles after being honored to carry the flame.

    Chinese ambassador to Britain Fu Ying will be among the torchbearers. The Princess Royal and mayor of London Ken Livingstone are going to attend the celebration ceremony.

Photo taken on April 5, 2008 shows a stage which will hold celebrations about the Olympic torch relay in London, capital of Britain. The torch relay in London, the fourth stop of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay outside the Chinese mainland, will kick off on April 6, 2008. (Xinhua/Xie Xiudong)

    The route is to pass through London’s cross-sectional sites including Wembley Stadium, Notting Hill Gate, Hyde Park Place, Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, British Museum, Chinatown Arch, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, Bridge Street, Waterloo Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral and Greenwich.

    The torch is set to travel to 21 cities on five continents outside the Chinese mainland before arriving in Beijing for the start of 2008 Games on August 8.

   PARIS, April 7 (Xinhua) — The Olympic torch relay concluded in Paris Monday afternoon, after repeated disruptions by Tibetan separatists and their supporters which aroused indignation from spectators and sports officials.    The torch was forced to be put on an accompanying bus for four times in the afternoon as precautions against the protestors, a Xinhua photographer reported. The journey was cut short and brought to the final place by bus.

    Earlier, a protestor tried to use a fire extinguisher to put out the Olympic torch, but was stopped by police, and another one failed in his attempt to snatch the torch from a torchbearer.

    At least five protesters were detained for blocking the Beijing Olympic torch relay in the French capital, the AFP news agency reported.

    Henri Serandour, head of the French Olympic Committee on Monday criticized the protests as “highly regrettable.”

    ”I think that people should have let this flame through, that they could have held their protests to one side,” he said.

    ”Everyone has a right to express themselves but to stop it passing shows a lack of respect for the basic freedom of our athletes to carry this flame, which is a message of peace to the whole world,” the chief said.

    Another member of the French Olympic Committee said here Monday that the Olympic torch relay should not be affected in any way.

    ”The Olympic sacred fire is a symbol of peace, tolerance… and should not be affected by anybody in any way,” Guy Drut told France 3 television.

    Spectators of the Beijing Olympic torch relay were greatly annoyed and angered by Tibetan separatists and their supporters attempting to disrupt the Monday event in Paris, the fifth leg of the flame’s global tour.

    ”We’ve come here only to watch the torch relay,” said a Paris student, who gave his first name as Mark.

    ”What in the world does this have anything to do with us except for annoying us?” he added, pointing to Tibetan separatist demonstrators.

   Liu Zijun, a Chinese student studying in Paris told Xinhua that the Beijing Olympic Games is a big event for China, she and her friends were very angry about the protests around the relay of the sacred fire.

    ”A majority of the French people are friendly towards China, but they have no knowledge about what really happened in Tibet and have been misled by some western media’s distorted reports,” Liu said, adding those media have played a “very bad role” in the matter.

    Tens of thousands spectators went to the street of Paris to watch the torch relay, which covers 28 kilometers starting the Eiffel Tower and ending at the Stade (Stadium) Charlety in the south of the city.

    Many on-lookers waved Chinese flags to cheer the event or put flag stickers on the face.

    One of them told Xinhua that some of the flags were hand-made by themselves or posted by their friends in China.

    Spokesman of the torch relay center of the Beijing Olympic Organization Committee Qu Yingpu said that the torch relay started in Paris smoothly, but has encountered protests during the process. Due to technical and safety reasons, the relay team had to change the ways of torch bearing four times during the process and put the torch onto the bus before the relay was resumed towards the south of Paris.

    On Sunday, he said that as the highest symbol of the Olympic spirit, the Olympic flame represents peace, friendship and progress. Under the authorization of the International Olympic Committee, the Beijing Olympic torch relay is taking its journey of harmony throughout the world, sharing the passion and glory of the Olympics with the world, and has received warm welcome from the people en route.

    However, a few “pro-Tibet independence” activists have attempted to interrupt the torch relay during its journey in grave violation of the Olympic spirit, as the Olympic flame belongs to the world. The act will surely arouse resentment of the peace-loving people, and is bound to fail, he said.

    The Beijing Olympic torch relay takes place on Monday in Paris, the fifth leg of its global tour.

    The 2008 Olympic flame was ignited on March 24 in Ancient Olympia of Greece and was handed over to Beijing on March 31 after a six-day relay in Greece.

    The 130-day torch relay will cover 137,000 km before the flame returns to Beijing and enters the National Stadium on Aug. 8 for the Olympics’ opening ceremony.

    A total of 21,880 torch bearers will be participating in the unprecedented relay, which is held under the theme of “Journey of Harmony.”

Torchbearer Mathieu Pinto runs with the torch during the Olympic torch relay in Paris, capital of France?on April 7, 2008. Paris is the fifth stop of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay outside the Chinese mainland. (Xinhua Photo)