Pakistan shifts torch relay venue due to security

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has changed the venue for its Olympic torch run for to security reasons, an official said on Tuesday, though anti-China protests were not expected as the torch begins its tour of Asia.
The torch will arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday on the first leg of its relay in Asia, as it makes its way to the Games in Beijing in August.
“As such there’s no threat but, obviously, because of the overall security environment, we didn’t want to take a chance,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Baseer Haider, a spokesman for the Pakistan Olympic Association.
Pakistan has been hit by an unprecedented wave of suicide bomb attacks by militants linked to Al Qaeda and the Taleban since an army assault on a radical mosque in Islamabad last July in which more than 100 people were killed.
The Olympic association had hoped to hold a torch run along Islamabad’s main boulevard in front of parliament, but the event will now be held inside a nearby sports stadium.
“We selected the sport complex because it’s manageable as the Met Office has also forecast thunderstorms and showers on Wednesday,” Haider said.
A Turkish woman was killed and four agents of the U.S. FBI were wounded in a bomb attack on an Italian restaurant in Islamabad on March 15.
But there have been no major attacks since a new government that has proposed talks with the militants took office this month.
The torch, touring the world ahead of the Olympic Games, has drawn protests over China’s policies, in particular its crackdown last month on unrest in Tibet and human rights in general.
Chaos erupted in San Francisco, London and Paris, where protesters tried to snuff out the flame and organisers extinguished or hid the torch to keep it safe.
Pakistan is a close ally of China, which is a major arms supplier and investor.
China is concerned about security threats from Uighur militants, from its northwest Xinjiang region, who have forged ties with Pakistan-based militants.