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Argentina tightens security for Olympic torch

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11/04/2008 05:03

By Kevin Gray

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina readied thousands of police on Thursday to guard the Olympic torch on the next stop of its world tour as calls grew for world leaders to boycott the Games’ opening ceremony over China’s human rights record.

Some Argentine activists opposed to China’s rule of Tibet have vowed non-violent "surprise actions" when the torch is carried through Buenos Aires on Friday.

"I want to announce that we are not going to put out the torch," said Jorge Carcavallo, the head of an Argentine pro-Tibet group. "But we are going to make surprise and peaceful protests across the city."

Rival demonstrations by human rights activists and pro-Chinese supporters forced officials to abruptly change the torch’s route through San Francisco on Wednesday.

The torch’s international relay have also sparked chaotic demonstrations during stops in London and Paris.

China said on Thursday it had foiled plots to kidnap foreigners and carry out suicide attacks during the Beijing Summer Olympics.

In Buenos Aires, some 1,500 Coast Guard officers, 1,200 police, and 3,000 city workers will be deployed along the route as Argentine athletes and personalities carry the torch.

Argentine Olympic officials invited soccer great Diego Maradona to kick off the relay, but it .....continued below

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was unclear if he would participate.

ANGER OVER TIBET, DARFUR

Groups angry over China’s human rights record and its polices on Sudan’s Darfur region have sought to pressure Beijing as it prepares to host the Olympics in August.

The European Parliament on Thursday urged European Union leaders to boycott the opening ceremony unless China opens talks with the Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

U.S. President George W. Bush has also faced calls from Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton to skip the ceremony.

Bush says he plans to attend, but has urged China to talk with the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India.

A U.N. spokesman said on Thursday that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will not attend the opening ceremony because of a scheduling conflict.

In China, a police spokesman said authorities detained 45 suspects and seized explosives and firearms in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang as they uncovered a plot by two terrorist groups seeking to disrupt the Olympics.

Indonesia, which is to welcome the torch on April 22, will shorten its leg of the relay after a request by Beijing, a sports official said on Thursday.

The path the torch takes on May 2 in Hong Kong, its first stop in China, will also be curtailed "to avoid embarrassing scenes," Hong Kong’s South China Morning reported.

Beijing hopes that hosting the Olympic Games will highlight its increasingly important role on the world state, and has fiercely condemned the torch protests, which it blames on the Dalai Lama and his followers.

The relay is expected to begin at 2:15 (6.15 p.m. British time) local time in Buenos Aires. After Argentina, the torch heads to Tanzania.