Vietnam calls for peaceful Olympic torch relay on last international stop

Vietnamese people have been urged to welcome the Olympic torch when it arrives in this southern city for the last international stop on its often turbulent global tour, a sports officials said Sunday.

The Vietnam leg of the torch relay was to begin Tuesday outside Ho Chi Minh City's 19th century opera hall, but authorities have not revealed the relay's route, apparently for security reasons.

In recent days, Vietnamese students have used websites and blogs to call for protests against China's claim to the disputed Spratlys islands. The islets in the South China Sea are claimed by Vietnam, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

The torch is due to arrive late Monday from North Korea.

Human rights groups and pro-Tibet activists have protested and in some cases disrupted the flame's monthlong journey around the world. Large groups of patriotic Chinese have turned out to welcome the torch.

"We are aware of the incidents with the Beijing Olympic torch relay in some cities that the torch has traveled to," Nguyen Hoang Nang, the director of Ho Chi Minh's sports department, told reporters Sunday.

"We have encouraged our Ho Chi Minh City people, those who love peace and respect the spirit of sport, to support this torch relay."

On Thursday, authorities expelled an American citizen of Vietnamese origin who allegedly planned to disrupt the relay, state media reported. The report said several T-shirts with anti- Olympic Beijing slogans were found in his luggage upon his arrival in Ho Chi Minh City.

After Vietnam, the torch travels to the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macao. It will then begin a journey around China. (****)