Olympic flame lands in Kazakhstan, security tight

By Shamil Zhumatov and Shavkat Rakhmatullayev

ALMATY (Reuters) - The Olympic flame arrived in Kazakhstan to pomp and tight security on Tuesday on the first leg of a global torch run certain to draw anti-China protests ahead of the August games in Beijing.

Fans cheered and waved colorful flags as a Chinese Olympic official carrying the flame in a lantern emerged from an airplane after arriving in Almaty, a city tucked in the slopes of the Tien-Shan mountains 500 km (300 miles) east of China.

A group of women clad in traditional Kazakh dress and hats with feathered plumes greeted the delegation with flowers as Jiang Xiaoyu, Vice President of the 2008 Olympics organizing committee, and other officials stepped on the tarmac.

"This airplane has brought this flame here, along with China's deepest sympathies for the Kazakh people and love for the Olympic games," Jiang told reporters in Chinese through an interpreter. "We are very happy to be in Almaty."

The first stop in the international leg of the 130-day global relay, Kazakhstan sees the flame's arrival as a moment of national pride as the oil-producing nation seeks to raise its global profile and emerge as a regional player.

At last week's flame-lighting ceremony in Greece, activists unfurled banners condemning China's human rights record, and on Sunday a small group of protesters tried to block the flame's handover to Beijing officials.

Protests are rare in Kazakhstan, a tightly run former Soviet nation, and there was no sign of rallies as the flame arrived.

But, determined to stave off any unrest, Kazakhstan has deployed 4,500 police to patrol the streets of Almaty, once a sleepy Soviet-built town and now a booming financial centre.

Itself subject to Western criticism over its often patchy rights record, Kazakhstan is due to greet the flame in a grand ceremony in the mountains south of Almaty on Wednesday.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev and top government and industry officials are due to attend. Most parts of the city are to be cordoned off entirely on Wednesday for a string of symbolic torch relays.

Officials and domestic media hailed the torch as a symbol of the world's recognition of Kazakhstan's accomplishments.

"Almaty was once on the Great Silk Road linking Asia and Europe," Imangali Tasmagambetov, Almaty's mayor, said on the eve of its arrival. "The people of Kazakhstan and Almaty in particular are very proud."

The flame is due to return to Beijing on August 6 after traveling throughout China, two days before it is used to light the cauldron at the Olympic opening ceremony.

(Writing by Maria Golovnina; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)