Olympic torch arrives in Australia, quickly whisked away
Americans keeping cars longerOther torchbearers said the Olympics were the wrong place to make political protests. Ian Thorpe, a five-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer who will carry the torch Thursday, said the protests "shouldn't be centered around a specific event."
Pro-Tibetan and pro-Chinese demonstrations were expected Thursday. Both sides say they want the event to be peaceful.
Simon Bradshaw, campaign coordinator of the Australia Tibet Council, said he expected about 500 supporters for what he said would be peaceful protests in Canberra.
"This is not an attempt to mar the Olympics, and it's certainly not an attack on the Chinese people. It's a message of support for Tibet," Bradshaw told The Associated Press.
About 4,000 Chinese students are expected in the capital to support the torch relay.
At a news conference of relay officials that was dominated by questions about security, Qu Yingpu, a spokesman for the Beijing Games organizing committee traveling with the torch, conceded there had been some problems said it had been a success so far.
"Definitely," he told a news conference. "Like everything else, we have ups and downs, but we are quite easy with that."
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