Battle of the Olympic flame

England

France

Olympic flame extinguished in Paris, forced onto bus

From Thierry Leveque in Paris

April 08, 2008 06:58am

CHINESE officials called off a chaotic relay of the Olympic torch through Paris today after thousands of pro-Tibet protesters tried to block its path and the flame had to be extinguished at least twice.

Police said Chinese organisers decided to give up the road relay after demonstrators protesting against China's crackdown on Tibet constantly snarled its progress and forced lengthy delays.

The torch relay hit trouble almost as soon as it set off from the Eiffel Tower, and regularly ground to a halt when protesters threatened to break through the imposing security cordon thrown around the athletes carrying the flame.

"Boycott Chinese goods" and "Save Tibet" read some of the banners held aloft by demonstrators.

Read the rest:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23504657-2,00.html

http://www.foxsports.com.au/beijing_olympics/0,,,00.html