France criticizes Chinese torch security

PARIS (Reuters) - French government ministers criticized Chinese security staff on Wednesday for the way they handled the Olympic flame's passage through Paris earlier this week, during which they put out the Olympic torch several times.

Tracksuit-clad Chinese security operatives repeatedly cut short torch-bearers' runs on Monday and packed the torch onto a bus, apparently because they were concerned by the numerous pro-Tibet and human rights protests along the route.

"I am singularly surprised by the conduct of those who have the responsibility under the Olympic charter -- the Chinese -- by their conduct in the streets of Paris," Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told the lower house of parliament.

"And I was not the only one -- the athletes were as well, and they were more surprised than I was," he added.

French police have said the Chinese officials who accompanied the flame caused confusion that slowed the procession.

Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot said Beijing officials made a series of last-minute changes during the procession in Paris, making life more difficult for their French counterparts.

"The French public authorities had to adapt in real time to these modifications, which were outside their control," she told parliament's regular session of questions to the government.

Two-time Olympic judo champion David Douillet, whose run was interrupted several times before his torch was extinguished during his handover, said the tracksuit-wearing staff jogging alongside him were "robots or watchdogs", adding that he felt "as if someone had spat in my face".

The flame's Chinese security group has been strongly criticized before. In London, Sebastian Coe, chairman of the 2012 Olympics organizing committee and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, called them "thugs", British media reported.

The flame's passage through Paris also sparked criticism of the French police, who seized flags from some pro-Tibet demonstrators, prompting Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie to order an internal investigation into what happened.

"Let us not go back on this dark day. There are administrative investigations that are being conducted by the interior minister on how this happened," Kouchner said.

The chaotic scenes in Paris, during which protesters threw themselves at the torch, booed its passage and hung banners from monuments such as the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame cathedral, mirrored similar disruption in London on Sunday.

Protesters in San Francisco, also angry at China's handling of violence in the mountainous region of Tibet, marched ahead of the torch's arrival there on Wednesday.

The flame is due to arrive in Beijing to start the Games on August 8.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy and Sophie Louet; Editing by Charles Dick)