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Torch relay peaceful in
Bangkok
The Olympic torch was carried
smoothly through the streets of Bangkok Saturday, with one noisy
confrontation between Tibet protesters and pro-China students.
Those watching the torch run included two elephants from the Dusit Zoo,
the Bangkok Post reported.
About 200 demonstrators outside the United Nations office waved Tibetan
flags as the torch passed. They shouted "Free Tibet" at
hundreds of students wearing red T-shirts and waving Chinese flags, who
responded "China Fight."
''I was asked to join to add color to the relay," said Yao Yu Ling,
a young Chinese woman studying at Rangsit University. "The
government wants Chinese youth overseas to be part of the event.''
Two protesters were arrested for having expired passports.
Eighty local torch bearers took turns on the 6-mile route through
downtown Bangkok.
The torch moves on to Malaysia Sunday.
Cop overtime pads bill
for S.F. torch run
City officials say the cost of
navigating the Olympic torch through the streets of San Francisco topped
three-quarters of a million dollars.
City officials said the expenses for police overtime and other costs
associated with the April 9 relay totaled $726,400, but Mayor Gavin
Newsome said it was worth it.
"We're a big city and we're going to have world-class events,"
the mayor said Thursday. "We are going to promote those events,
we're going to promote the vibrancy of the city, and that comes at a
cost."
The costs escalated at the last minute after the torch became a target
of activists protesting China's policies in Tibet. The threat of a
disruption forced the city to change the route of the relay and put
scores of police and other personnel on the clock.
The San Francisco Chronicle said Friday that the SFPD's overtime tab
alone topped $500,000, and those numbers won't be finalized until next
week.
The newspaper also said Newsome was working to raise private donations
to cover the costs.
Olympic torch run in
India ends
The Indian leg of the
international Olympic torch relay concluded Thursday after a shortened
run through New Delhi.
An estimated 16,000 police and soldiers were part of a security for the
1.8-mile, 30-minute relay around the city, BombayNews.net reported.
Chinese security guards accompanying the flame and the torch on the
international relay joined local police for the portion in India, home
to the world's largest Tibetan exile community.
The Dalai Lama established his government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India.
The Tibetan Youth Congress said 400 people tried to breach security
measures along the route.
Police in New Delhi said about 180 Tibetan demonstrators were arrested.
Police in Mumbai said 46 Tibetans were arrested when they tried to enter
the Chinese consulate.
At the end of its relay, the torch was surrounded by Tibetan flags,
cameras and Tibetan men wearing headbands imprinted with "Free
Tibet," the BBC reported.
Before the Olympic torch's arrival, Tibetan exile groups organized an
alternative torch relay involving Indian politicians and celebrities.
Security greets Olympic
torch in Pakistan
Tight security greeted the Olympic
torch's arrival in Pakistan, where relays will be run at a sports
complex Wednesday instead of through Islamabad's streets.
China's ambassador to Pakistan was among the dignitaries waiting for the
torch's arrival at a military section of Islamabad airport, where the
flame arrived in the early hours of the morning, the BBC said.
The Pakistani leg of the torch relay was at a heavily guarded stadium
before invited guests and media, CNN reported, marking the first time
the public could not watch the torch's international trek leading up to
the Beijing Summer Olympics. Instead, the 65 torch-bearers ran multiple
laps around the stadium before passing the torch to the next runner.
Protests against China's policies on Tibet and Darfur forced previous
torch runs to be shortened or diverted in Paris and San Francisco. In
the Australian capital Canberra, police have been given extra powers to
search spectators for items such as guns and knives during the
Australian relay leg next week, the BBC said.
2008-04-26 |
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