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IN BUENOS AIRES: Heavy escort for the bus ferrying the torch and the Chinese team. -- REUTERS
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BEIJING - CHINA assured the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that it will increase security for the rest of the torch relay as the flame entered its Buenos Aires leg yesterday.
The IOC was reassured by Mr Liu Qi, who heads the Beijing organising committee, that 'they have everything under control', IOC spokesman Giselle Davies said.
'Violence for any reason around the torch relay perpetrated by whomever is clearly something the IOC finds very uncomfortable to see,' Ms Davies said.
'We do hope that the torch relay can now progress with many more cheers and smiles and the kind of atmosphere that it deserves.'
There were no immediate details on how Beijing intends to boost security measures for the rest of the torch relay.
China has deployed a 'flame protection squad' - comprising some 70 members of China's People's Armed Police - to safeguard the fire 24 hours a day.
But the squad's heavy-handed approach has made some people uncomfortable.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said that Australia, not China, would be the one to provide security for the flame when it arrives in Canberra later this month.
Japan has also said its police will be responsible for protecting the torch in Nagano.
Mumbai has stepped up security measures, while Indonesia has said it would significantly shorten its leg of the relay on April 22.
The torch relay's San Francisco route was abruptly changed by city officials to avoid major demonstrations.
Protests also rocked the relay's earlier stops in London and Paris this week.
On Thursday, the flame was taken to a hideaway upon its arrival at the airport in Argentina.
Asked where the torch was being sheltered overnight, local security officials said that even they did not know.
'That is a state secret,' quipped a city sports organiser, Mr Francisco Irarrazabal, one of the few to have briefly caught a glimpse of the flame on the airport runway.
Argentina is billing the Olympic torch run, scheduled to begin at 2.15pm local time yesterday, as an easygoing street fiesta launched by a tango orchestra.
But after protesters warned of a Buenos Aires 'surprise', the authorities have deployed 1,300 federal police, 1,500 naval police and some 3,000 traffic police and volunteers - enough to ensure security 'without going to the extreme that nobody will be able to see the torch', Mr Irarrazabal said.
Among 80 invited torchbearers, soccer great Diego Maradona remained in doubt, but former tennis star Gabriela Sabatini confirmed she would be the last runner.
After Argentina, the torch heads to Tanzania, where Kenyan Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai announced she had pulled out of the relay.
Wrapping up talks in Beijing yesterday, IOC head Jacques Rogge praised China's 'excellent' preparations for the Olympics, despite the protest-hit torch relay.
He said that the Games would rebound.
'I have no crystal ball, but I am optimistic that the Games will be a great success,' he said.
BLOOMBERG, REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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