Nervous Asians trim Olympic torch relay plans

By Kamran Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan and India have changed plans for their Olympic torch runs because of worries about security and anti-China protests on the eve of the launch of the torch's tour of Asia and Australia.

The torch, touring the world ahead of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, has become a magnet for protests against China's policies, in particular its crackdown last month on unrest in Tibet.

The torch will arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday on the first leg of its relay in Asia as it makes its way to the Beijing.

The torch has sparked chaos in San Francisco, London and Paris, where anti-China protesters tried to snuff out the flame and organizers extinguished or hid the torch to keep it safe.

Officials in Pakistan, a close ally of China, said they did not expect anti-China protests but they had changed the venue for the torch run for security reasons.

"As such there's no threat but, obviously, because of the overall security environment, we didn't want to take a chance," said Lieutenant-Colonel Baseer Haider, a spokesman for the Pakistan Olympic Association.

Pakistan has been hit by an unprecedented wave of suicide bomb attacks by militants linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban since an army assault on a radical mosque in Islamabad last July in which more than 100 people were killed.

The Olympic association had hoped to hold a torch run along Islamabad's main boulevard in front of parliament, but the event will now be held inside a nearby sports stadium.

India has also trimmed the route of its torch relay on Thursday fearing Tibetan protesters might try to disrupt the procession.

The final route is still to be announced, but media reported the torch will travel less than a third of the original 9 km (5 miles) distance in a heavily guarded New Delhi neighborhood.

"The route has been curtailed ... We are meeting now to decide all the plans," said Randhir Singh, secretary-general of the Indian Olympic Association.

"SEPARATISM AND SABOTAGE"

Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and the Tibetan government-in-exile are based in northern India and the country has had dozens of anti-China protests since last month's riots in Tibet and other regions.

In one protest, Tibetan exiles scaled the walls of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. On Tuesday, about 30 Tibetan protesters were detained by police after they staged an anti-torch rally in the same city, officials said.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Beijing said China believed India would take effective steps to protect the torch.