TIMELINE: Olympic torch protests around the world
(Reuters) - The Olympic torch arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday, where authorities have deployed about 2,500 policemen and about 1,000 members of the military to guard the flame.
China had hoped the torch's seven continent journey would be a symbol of unity in the run-up to the August Games, but it drew a wave of anti-China protests during stopovers in Europe and the Americas following Beijing's crackdown on protests in Tibet.
Torch appearances have also seen increasing numbers of Chinese, many of them young people studying abroad, on hand to show support for China and the Olympics, and torch routes have been shortened and restricted amidst heightened security.
Here is a list of disruptions that have hit the relay.
* March 24, 2008: Human rights protesters breach security to try to disrupt the torch-lighting ceremony in Olympia, Greece, home of the ancient Olympics. Relay runners are briefly held up when several demonstrators lie in front of a convoy of cars. One Tibetan activist is detained and about 25 others kept away from events by police.
* March 30: Small group of Tibet activists tries to stop flame entering Athens stadium for handover to Chinese officials. The group fails to break through security cordon and is quickly removed by Greek police.
* April 6: Thousands of protesters wave Tibetan flags and shout "Shame on China" as torch relay passes through London. British police scuffle with crowd to stop attacks on the triple ring of officers and Chinese officials guarding flame. One man gets his hands on the torch before being wrestled to the ground. Torch is hurried onto a double-decker bus when about 100 protesters rush towards it. At least 35 people are arrested.
* April 7: Paris officials extinguish the flame at least twice and carry the torch by bus when protesters try to seize it. About 3,000 police deployed to control crowds. The flame's scheduled five-hour passage is cut short after thousands of protesters block its path. On the same day in San Francisco, where the torch is to make its only U.S. stop, three protesters hang banners from Golden Gate bridge reading "One World, One Dream: Free Tibet" and "Free Tibet 08" ahead of torch's arrival.
* April 9: San Francsico abruptly changes torch route at last minute, wrong-footing thousands of protesters and counter-protesters lining the original planned route through the city, where a fifth of the population is ethnically Chinese.
* April 17: Sportsmen, Bollywood film stars and celebrities parade torch along a historic New Delhi thoroughfare purged of protesters, while thousands of exiled Tibetans march through streets in a parallel relay. A massive security cordon of 15,000 police and security guards keeps protesters from world's largest exiled Tibetan community far from the route, which was cut by a third. Dozens are detained for trying to protest.
* April 19: In Bangkok, a crowd of about 200 China supporters taunt scores of pro-Tibet demonstrators as police man barricades to protect torch on its route beginning in city's China Town.
Source: Reuters
(Writing by Gillian Murdoch, Singapore Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Jerry Norton)
