KAZAKHSTAN: Olympic flame arrives in Kazakhstan's former capital Almaty to make its first stop on 130-day journey around the world

Record ID: 609036

  • Title: KAZAKHSTAN: Olympic flame arrives in Kazakhstan's former capital Almaty to make its first stop on 130-day journey around the world
  • Date: 2nd April 2008
  • Summary: ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN (APRIL 1, 2008) (REUTERS) WIDE EXTERIOR OUTSIDE AIRPORT CLOSE OF SIGN
  • Embargoed: 17th April 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kazakhstan
  • Country: Kazakhstan
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAATYXNDFJ53AUFKRWLC55T3XTD
  • Story Text: The Olympic flame arrived in Kazakhstan with ceremony and tight security on Tuesday (April 1) during the first leg of a global torch run certain to draw anti-China protests before the August games in Beijing.
    Fans cheered and waved colourful flags as a Chinese Olympic official, carrying the flame in a special safety lantern, emerged from an aeroplane after arriving in Almaty, a city tucked in the slopes of the Tien-Shan mountains 500 km (300 miles) east of China.
    A group of women clad in traditional Kazakh dress and hats with feathered plumes greeted the delegation with flowers as Jiang Xiaoyu, Vice President of the 2008 Olympics organising committee, and other officials stepped on the tarmac.
    "The plane has brought here the sacred Olympic flame. It has also brought kind feelings of the Chinese people for the people of Kazakhstan, love for Olympic games. We are happy to arrive in Almaty and let's do our best to contribute to the development of Olympic games," Jiang Xiaoyu upon arrival.
    The first stop in the international leg of the 130-day global relay, Kazakhstan sees the flame's arrival as a moment of national pride as the oil-producing nation seeks to raise its global profile and emerge as a regional player.
    At last week's flame-lighting ceremony in Greece, activists unfurled banners condemning China's human rights record, and on Sunday a small group of protesters tried to block the flame's handover to Beijing officials.
    Protests are rare in Kazakhstan, a tightly run former Soviet nation, and there was no sign of rallies as the flame arrived.
    But, determined to stave off any unrest, Kazakhstan has deployed 4,500 police to patrol the streets of Almaty, once a sleepy Soviet-built town and now a booming financial centre.
    Itself subject to Western criticism over its often patchy rights record, Kazakhstan is due to greet the flame in a grand ceremony in the mountains south of Almaty on Wednesday.
    President Nursultan Nazarbayev and top government and industry officials are due to attend. Most parts of the city are to be cordoned off entirely on Wednesday for a string of symbolic torch relays.
    The flame is due to return to Beijing on Aug. 6 after travelling throughout China, two days before it is used to light the cauldron at the Olympic opening ceremony.
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