By RIA Novosti
Athens : An official ceremony of handing over the Olympic flame to the organizers of the Beijing Games was held at the marble stadium in Athens on Sunday amid protests by pro-Tibet groups.
At the ceremony held under tight security, Minos Kyriakou, president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, delivered the Olympic torch to Liu Qi, head of the organizing committee of the Beijing Games, which will be held on August 8-24.
The handover ceremony was marred by the arrest of about a dozen of pro-Tibet demonstrators who protested the recent crackdown by Chinese authorities against anti-Chinese protesters in Tibet that allegedly left 100 civilians dead. China’s government puts the death toll at 19.
China has accused Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama of attempting to sabotage the Beijing Games by orchestrating the protests in Tibetan capital Lhasa, which began on March 10 to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in north India, has dismissed the allegation, saying he supports Beijing as a host city for the Olympics.