Olympic torch embarks on M'sia leg amid tight security


KUALA LUMPUR - THE Olympic torch began its journey through Kuala Lumpur on Monday as part of the Malaysian leg of the protest-hit Beijing Olympic relay, witnesses said, amid fears of further disruptions.
The torch left Merdeka, or Independence Square, after a brief ceremony at 2.21pm (0621 GMT). It will be carried by 80 torchbearers before arriving at the iconic Petronas Twin Towers four hours later.

'Malaysians are largely supportive of the Olympic Games and the torch rally,' Olympic Committee of Malaysia president Imran Jaaafar told reporters after kicking off the relay.

Earlier, Malaysian police warned protesters they faced arrest on Monday if they tried to disrupt the Olympic torch procession in the capital, as authorities seek to avoid the kind of chaos that has dogged the relay elsewhere.

About 1,000 police, including an elite special-operations squad, are deployed along the 16.5 km route that starts at the colonial-era Freedom Square and ends at Petronas Towers, the world's second-tallest buildings.

The torch relay has drawn a wave of anti-China protests during stopovers in Europe and the Americas following Beijing's crackdown last month on protests in Tibet.

Pro-China demonstrations, many involving Chinese studying overseas, are becoming increasingly common as well.

The flame will travel from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta and then the Australian capital of Canberra on April 24.



Australia
Australian organisers on Monday said they were re-routing the flame from the heart of the capital Canberra, amid fears of clashes between pro-China and pro-Tibet demonstrators.

Releasing the route of the Thursday relay, organiser Ted Quinlan said he was disappointed the torch would not now travel through major city areas and would stick to main roads in front of the Australian War Memorial and Parliament House.

'Those (city) streets don't lend themselves to a very secure torch relay,' Mr Quinlan told local radio.

'By overseas experience it's obvious that we have to do something about making sure that we can keep the full convoy secure all of the way, every metre.'

Organisers said the Australian torch relay would start at 8.45am (6.45am Singapore time Wednesday) after a dawn fireworks display, sticking to wide roads easily secured by police. Chinese paramilitary torch attendants have been barred from any security role.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he feared an outbreak of 'football hooliganism' at the relay, following clashes during stopovers in Europe and the Americas. The flame arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

The torch is scheduled to go to South Korea and then to North Korea on April 28 before heading to Vietnam, whose prime minister has warned 'hostile forces' may try to disrupt the relay in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam
Vietnam's Prime Minister has warned government agencies that 'hostile forces' may try to disrupt next week's relay in Ho Chi Minh City of the Olympics torch, which has been dogged by protests around the world.

The state-run Vietnam News Agency reported on Sunday night that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung discussed preparations for the April 29 event with local authorities and other ministries.

The relay is on the eve of the South-east Asian country's National Reunification Day on April 30 and May Day.

'Vietnam's social security and order are stable but hostile forces always attempt to disturb the situation and make harm to the country's prestige on the international arena,' the report quoted Mr Dung, who was installed in June 2006 as Vietnam's youngest premier, as saying.

The term 'hostile forces' is used by the government to describe its political opponents opposed to one-party rule.

Vietnam's diplomatic relations with its fellow-Communist neighbour China are amicable despite tensions over disputed islands in the South China Sea that drew rare nationalistic protests outside Chinese missions in December.

But those demonstrations, and potentially the torch relay, also attracted myriad anti-government interests from political activists using the Internet, to overseas Vietnamese groups opposed to one-party Communist rule and dissident Buddhist monks.

The official news agency report said the Prime Minister stressed that 'it is a must to ensure the success for the Olympic torch relay in the city' to show 'the Vietnamese nation's love for sports and peace and its amity with China'. -- REUTERS