Olympic torch tours Pakistan, security tight

The torch has been beset by protests through Europe and the Americas, mostly over a Chinese crackdown in Tibet. It arrived in the Pakistani capital amid heightened security even though officials said there had been no specific threat.

Thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers were deployed in and around Islamabad’s Jinnah Stadium. Authorities had planned to hold the relay on the city’s main boulevard but switched the event to the stadium for security reasons.

Officials did not expect any anti-Chinese protests as there is no Tibetan community in the country but Pakistan has been hit by a wave of suicide attacks and bombings by Islamist militants.

China is a close ally and the main source of arms to Pakistan and President Pervez Musharraf told the torch ceremony the people of China were Pakistan’s closest friends.

“We stand with you and support you in this glorious event that you host for the entire world,” Musharraf said, referring to the Beijing Olympics this August.

Riding a horse-drawn carriage, three Chinese athletes brought a lantern into the stadium to light the flame to the cheers of thousands of children waving Pakistani and Chinese flags. Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani held the burning torch before handing it to Pakistani Olympian Sami Ullah.

Flanked by soldiers in sports kit and police on motor-bikes, Pakistani and Chinese torch bearers ran a 2-km (1-mile) route inside the stadium. Pakistani squash great, Jahangir Khan, who won a world record 10 British Open titles and is a six-time world champion, lit a cauldron at the end of the relay.

“Squash has never been in the Olympics and it was my dream to play in the Olympic Games but that never happened. But today I felt I was doing the finishing line here,” he said.

Roads around the stadium were blocked and only people with invitations were allowed in.

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