Olympics to 'rebound from crisis'
Rabu, 09 April 2008
 |  The torch was taken on a surprise route through San Francisco 
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Torch rela The head of the International Olympic Committee has said the Beijing Games will rebound from "crisis" after days of protests along the torch route.
Jacques Rogge told a meeting of national committees in the Chinese capital that they should assure their countries the Games would succeed.
The US stage of the torch relay passed off amid confusion and tight security in San Francisco on Wednesday.
The route was totally changed at the last minute amid anti-Chinese protests.
Torch-bearers were immersed in a cocoon of security, surrounded by dozens of police officers and Chinese guards in track-suits.
The Olympic flame was lit in Greece on 24 March and is being relayed through 20 countries before being carried into the opening ceremony in Beijing on 8 August.
Demonstrators sought to disrupt the torch relay in Athens, Istanbul, Paris and London, while it passed successfully through Almaty, in Kazakhstan, and St Petersburg, in Russia.
It is due to arrive in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, later this week.
'Saddened'
Mr Rogge said he had been "saddened' by violent protests in Europe but he believed the San Francisco relay had been an improvement.
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"It was, however, not the joyous party that we had wished it to be," he added.
Speaking at a joint meeting between the Association of National Olympic Committees and the IOC executive board, he said officials should reassure athletes.
"Tell them not to lose faith," Mr Rogge said.
"Tell them that they are going to set an example and that the world will be watching them.
"We have 120 days to achieve that and I am sure it is going to be successful."
In the US, both Democratic presidential hopefuls have now called on President George W Bush to consider boycotting the Beijing opening ceremony if China did not improve its human rights record.
"A boycott of the opening ceremonies should be firmly on the table but this decision should be made closer to the Games [in August]," Barack Obama said a day after a similar call by Hillary Clinton.
The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a motion condemning China's "extreme" response to protests in Tibet.
The Dalai Lama, who is due in Tokyo en route to the US, is expected to give his reaction to the torch protests at a news conference on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, members of the European Parliament will vote on a draft resolution calling on EU leaders to boycott the games if there is no resumption of dialogue between the Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama.
The resolution is non-binding, but the BBC's Oana Lungescu in Brussels says it's bound to increase pressure on EU leaders to take a tougher stance towards China.
A spokeswoman for UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would not be attending the opening ceremonies, but had never intended to do so and would be at the closing ceremony.
Whisked away
Thousands of spectators had been waiting hours to see the torch pass through San Francisco and demonstrators were out in force along the waterfront relay route.
But immediately after the torch was lit, the torch-bearers turned into a warehouse building, disappearing for an hour.
They reappeared at a new starting-point across the city where it was handed to two runners, away from the protesters.
The planned waterfront closing ceremony in Justin Herman Plaza was moved to a motorway fly-over.
"We assessed the situation and felt that we could not secure the torch and protect the protesters and supporters to the degree that we wished," San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom told Reuters news agency.
In Paris, the torch had to be extinguished three times, while in London there were 37 arrests.
| OLYMPIC TORCH ROUTE  Torch lit in Olympia on 24 March and taken on five-day relay around Greece to Athens After handover ceremony, it is taken to Beijing on 31 March to begin a journey of 136,800 km (85,000 miles) around the world
Torch arrives in Macau on 3 May. After three-month relay all around China, it arrives in Beijing for opening ceremony on 8 August
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