| |
ISLAMABAD : Pakistan geared up on Tuesday for the arrival of the Olympic torch, after announcing that its leg of the troubled worldwide relay had been slashed due to security threats.
The torch, which arrives early Wednesday on the first stop in its Asian leg of the tour, was supposed to travel through the streets of the capital Islamabad before reaching a stadium for a ceremony.
But the relay will now be confined to the heavily guarded Jinnah Stadium, amid security concerns sparked by a wave of suicide bombings in which more than 1,000 people have died in the past year.
"The entire event was re-scheduled due to security threats. We had to re-schedule the programme to ensure full security to the torch relay and its participants," Pakistan Olympic Association chairman Arif Hassan told AFP.
"Keeping in view the law and order situation which was experienced in the past one year and the blasts and explosions, we had selected three possible routes," Hassan said.
"But at the last minute we dropped the other two routes and selected this route inside Jinnah Stadium to ensure that we do not face any security threat," he added.
The ceremony will be attended by President Pervez Musharraf, who on Monday condemned pro-Tibetan protests that have marred the Beijing Olympic torch relay, and vowed to maintain security when the flame arrived.
"We have taken all measures to ensure its security," Musharraf, who is in China, told students following a speech at a Beijing university.
"There is no one in Pakistan, not one man, who would like to do anything against the interests of China."
Hassan said at least 8,000 specially selected guests had been invited to the ceremony at the stadium, which would also be shown live on television.
He said that there would be two sessions of the ceremony involving 65 runners from China and Pakistan.
The flame is arriving in Pakistan after protests over Tibet and human rights marred the European and US legs of its world tour.
- AFP /ls
|
