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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani leg of the Olympic global torch relay took place behind closed doors in Islamabad on Wednesday, guarded by thousands of troops and police on alert for both anti-China protests and militant attacks.
The colourful ceremony took place inside a sports stadium in Islamabad after organisers cancelled the planned route through the capital at the last minute citing security concerns.
President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani put aside their political differences and held the torch together after it was lit, before passing it on to former hockey captain Samiullah.
Youngsters waved Pakistani flags and cheered as the flame was brought on a traditional horse-driven chariot. The army band played to herald the arrival of the torch.
Musharraf and Gilani arrived in a fleet of bullet-proof Mercedes limousines, flanked by Landcruisers with roof-mounted guns. Armed bodyguards in suits stood guard and army helicopters flew overhead.
"It is indeed a great honour for Pakistan and its capital Islamabad to be included in the torch relay for the Beijing Olympics," Pakistan Olympic Association chairman Arif Hassan said in a speech.
Former squash star Jahangir Khan is set to light the cauldron at the end of the relay, which is set to involve around 60 people, Pakistani sources said.
The security comes as Pakistan tries to protect China, its closest ally, from further embarrassment at the hands of pro-Tibet and human rights demonstrators who disrupted earlier parts of the worldwide tour.
Pakistan has also suffered a wave of suicide attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants which have killed more than 1,000 people in the last year.
The original plan was to parade the torch from the white marble presidency building and along Islamabad's leafy main boulevard, but the entire event will now be held behind closed doors at the arena.
Army contingents, paramilitary troops and elite police commandos guarded the flame as it arrived at Jinnah Stadium.
Officials said there was no indication of a specific threat but security was tight because of the presence of Muslim separatists from China's northwestern Xinjiang region in Pakistan's troubled tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Musharraf on Monday condemned the earlier pro-Tibet protests on the tour
Pakistan and China are close political, military and commercial allies. But two militant attacks here last year targeted Chinese workers.
China's hopes of winning international prestige by sending the Olympic torch through 135 cities on five continents ahead of the August 8 opening of the Olympic Games have already been severely dented.
The early stages in London and Paris were overshadowed by demonstrations against Beijing's crackdown on protests in Tibet, and the third stage in San Francisco was also drastically curtailed and seen by relatively few people.
Officials said Wednesday that Australian police had been give extra powers to ensure there is no violence when the torch goes there, while the southern Chinese territory of Hong Kong announced it was changing its torch route.
Before Muscat, the legs in Buenos Aires and Dar es Salaam passed off with little incident.
The torch's next stop will be the Indian capital New Delhi on Thursday.
Indian police detained dozens of pro-Tibet demonstrators shouting "We Want Justice, Stop Killing in Tibet" on Tuesday in New Delhi as they carried an "independence torch" along the route planned for the relay.
- AFP/so
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