Paris puts out Olympic flame as protests mount

Games' symbol extinguished; IOC chief voices concern

Protesters against China's policies on human rights and Tibet forced security officials to put out the iconic Olympic flame and take refuge on a bus five times before aborting its relay through Paris yesterday.

Games organisers vowed to defeat the "few Tibet separatists" who threatened to spoil the biggest relay in Olympic history.

Speaking in Beijing hours after similar protests during the torch relay in London, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said he was very concerned about the protests and about the recent deadly unrest in Tibetan-populated regions.

"The torch relay has been targeted. The IOC has expressed its serious concern and calls for a rapid peaceful resolution in Tibet," he said.

The comments were the sternest yet by Dr Rogge, who has repeatedly defended the awarding of the Games to China and said at the weekend the IOC saw "no momentum" for a boycott of Games events.

French officials cut short the torch relay after protesters had repeatedly held up its progress.

On the Eiffel Tower's first floor, Green Party activist Sylvain Garel lunged for the first torch-bearer, shouting, "Freedom for the Chinese". Security officials pulled him back.

After just 200 metres, protesters confronted the relay. Security officials extinguished the torch and put it on a bus.

Crowds booed and jeered its progress down the Champs Elysee - the most famous street in Paris - and protesters, among them city councillors, hung banners depicting the Olympic rings as handcuffs from landmarks including City Hall, where a Tibetan flag also flew. Mayor Bertrand Delanoe cancelled a ceremony there marking the torch's passage, citing Chinese objections.

One protester tried to douse the flame with a fire extinguisher.

Each time officials resumed the relay, it was interrupted. The flame was put out at least twice. Police made 28 arrests.

When the torch was whisked to the stadium where the relay was to have ended, fighting broke out nearby between French pro-Tibet activists and demonstrators carrying Chinese flags. The French activists spat on them and shouted, "Fascists!"

The head of the French Olympic Committee called the protests against the relay highly regrettable.

Wang Hui , spokeswoman for the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, was defiant. "The Tibet separatists are doomed to failure. Nothing can stop the smooth operation of the torch relay. It will be a success. We will not change our schedule," she said.

Earlier, a government spokesman described Sunday's demonstrations in London as "vile misdeeds" by "disgusting" separatists seeking to sabotage the relay.

Dr Rogge, clearly rattled by the images of protesters trying to snuff out the flame, called on the 205 national Olympic committees meeting in Beijing this week to form a united front to prevent the Games being overshadowed by violent protests.

"Our major responsibility is to offer a good Games to the athletes. The world expects it, and the unity of the Olympic movement will deliver it," he said.

Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Reuter