Olympic torch relay: 3 detained

The police today questioned a Chinese monk and two Japanese nationals for causing disturbance at Dataran Merdeka before the Olympic torch relay was due to begin.

No other untoward incidents were reported as the torch left Dataran Merdeka on schedule at 2pm. A large crowd of people gathered at the site to witness the event.

The first torchbearer was OCM president Tunku Imran Tuanku Ja'afar. He was the first of 80 runners who carried the torch through the capital.

There nationality of the monk was unknown but city police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman said he was detained on the route as a "preventive" measure.

As for the Japanese nationals, believed to be from the same family, Muhammad said they were held after they waved a Tibetan flag.

He said they were detained "only for documentation," and said he had no information that they were beaten by other crowd members, as some witnesses reported.

Eyewitnesses said that the Japanese duo, coupled with a boy, had unfurled a pro-Tibet banner about an hour before the torch relay started and that they were heckled by bystanders for that.

Authorities earlier beefed up security in key tourist areas of Kuala Lumpur for the Olympic torch relay today amid fears of possible disruption.

More than 1,000 police and other security forces have been deployed on the 16.5-kilometre route the torchbearers will use to carry the flame to its main destination, the iconic Petronas Twin Towers.

The torch, symbol of the Beijing Games, is on the Asian stretch of a world tour that was severely disrupted in Europe and the United States by protesters complaining over China's rule in Tibet and its human rights record.

Organisers in Kuala Lumpur were taking no chances.

The torch was flown in by chartered plane from Bangkok, touched down in the early hours of Sunday and was whisked away to a secret location by organisers who fear for its safety.

"We have looked into every area and done everything in our capacity to ensure a smooth run, and the police are also doing their part," M Jegathesan, deputy chairperson of the Olympic Council of Malaysia, told AFP.

"After the experiences in other countries and the forewarnings, we have to worry there will be demonstrations or attempts to disrupt the torch run.

"But the situation here is not the same as in other countries, and even in Bangkok they had a peaceful run," he added.

High-profile target

China's communist rulers were banking on the Olympic Games to showcase the nation's much-touted "peaceful rise" to power, but the torch relay that began in Greece last month has become a high-profile target for activists.

It follows a crackdown on violent protests in March against Chinese rule in Tibet, with exiled leaders saying 150 people were killed.

China says Tibetan "rioters" killed 20 people.

Protests in London, Paris and San Francisco led Jacques Rogge, head of the International Olympic Committee, to say the Games were in "crisis," but since then Beijing has bluntly told him to stay out of "irrelevant" politics.

Still, hundreds of protesters were arrested in India and Nepal last week as the torch was carried through New Delhi amid tight security, while a landmark Buddhist temple has pulled out of plans to host the launch ceremony of Japan's leg.

Even in Bangkok, where Saturday's relay passed off relatively peacefully, protesters kept more than 2,000 police busy.

Malaysian police expect little trouble in Kuala Lumpur but are prepared for all eventualities.

"I trust everything will be orderly... We are well prepared," said deputy police chief Ismail Omar, while Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said the Games in August should not be politicised.

"We will show our concern by prayers only," pledged Chokhor, a Tibetan monk who goes by one name, at a multi-ethnic prayer session Sunday. "There will be no street protests."

Carrefour, CNN targeted

Some 80 torchbearers will carry the flame from Dataran Merdeka after a brief ceremony at 2pm and are due to arrive four hours later at the Petronas Twin Towers.

After Kuala Lumpur, the torch relay travels to Indonesia, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam before heading to China.

Authorities in Nepal have deployed security forces on their side of Mount Everest to prevent pro-Tibet protests when the torch is carried to the summit early next month.

Meanwhile, the protests have triggered a backlash in China. At the weekend, thousands of people demonstrated outside branches of the French retail giant Carrefour in several cities, angry at allegations - which the supermarket has denied - that it supports the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

Protesters also lashed out at the global rolling news network CNN, after a commentator last week called China a "bunch of goons and thugs."

- AFP