Security concerns high as Olympic torch arrives in San Francisco

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Olympic torch arrived for its only North American stop amid heavy security Tuesday, a day after its visit to Paris descended into chaos and activists in San Francisco scaled the Golden Gate Bridge to protest China's human rights record. Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the body's executive board would discuss Friday whether to end the international leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay because of widespread protests. The torch's global journey was supposed to highlight China's growing economic and political power. But activists opposing China's human rights policies and a recent crackdown on Tibet have been protesting along the torch's 137,000 kilometer route since the start of the flame's odyssey from Ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Rogge told The Associated Press he was "deeply saddened" by violent protests in London and Paris and concerned about Wednesday's 10-kilometer relay in San Francisco, where activists expressed fears that the torch's planned route through Tibet would lead to arrests and violent measures by Chinese officials trying to stifle dissent.