Beijing organizers to beef up security for rest of Olympic torch relay

The Associated Press , Beijing | Fri, 04/11/2008 6:35 PM | Headlines

Beijing organizers are beefing up security around the remainder of the beleaguered Olympic torch relay.

Liu Qi, head of the Beijing organizing committee, met Friday with senior IOC officials and attempted to reassure them of further steps following chaotic scenes from protest-filled relays in San Francisco, Paris and London.

The next leg is Friday in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where pro-Tibet protestersand other with grievances against China have warned of a "Buenos Aires surprise" along the 14-kilometer route through the Argentine capital.

"The (Beijing) organizing committee today did underline to us that they have taken steps to make sure any risk, if there is any, is mitigated and we're very confident and comfortable with that," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said.

"It was just a question of reassuring the executive board that they have everything under control."

Argentine authorities were expected to deploy 1,300 federal police, 1,500 naval police and some 3,000 traffic police and volunteers to try to ensure security around the torch. (***)

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