Olympic torch evades protesters and supporters alike

By Jim Christie and Amanda Beck

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Olympic torch's only stop in North America turned into a game of hide and seek on Wednesday as San Francisco abruptly changed the route, angering both China supporters and protesters.

Thousands of people converged along the announced scenic Embarcadero waterfront route. But after the opening ceremony, the first runner was flanked by blue-clad Chinese security officials and carried the torch into a warehouse. The torch eventually turned up miles away.

"We were cheated, because I think the meaning of the relay was to show the whole world that our country is hosting the Olympics," said Michael Huo, 30, a Chinese engineer working at a Silicon Valley start-up company.

The torch was a magnet last week for chaotic demonstrations in London and Paris China's human rights record and its recent crackdown on Tibet. Beijing, embarrassed as it prepares to host the Olympics, has strongly condemned the protests.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom told Reuters that the route had to be radically changed at the last minute or the event canceled to ensure public safety.

"We assessed the situation and felt that we could not secure the torch and protect the protesters and supporters to the degree that we wished," Newsom said by cell phone. "As a consequence we engaged in subsequent contingency planning that we felt would keep people safe."

The bewildering changes united supporters and protesters who had been divided by politics. Both sides were angered by the sudden changes to the only North American leg of the torch's journey to the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

"It's cowardly. If they can't run the torch through the city, it means that no one is supporting the games," said Matt Helmenstine, 30, a California high school teacher who carried a Tibetan flag.