CANBERRA, Australia - Runners bearing the Olympic torch completed a 10-mile relay through the Australian capital's crowd-lined streets Thursday, unimpeded by sporadic anti-China protests that left several people arrested.
Thousands turned out for the Canberra relay on the cool and sunny autumn day as police manned crowd-control barriers and vowed that nothing would stop the torch from completing its three-hour journey.
The event began without major incident as a half-dozen officers -- in jogging pants, T-shirts and baseball caps -- formed a loose cordon around the runner. Overhead, an airplane sky writer wrote the words "Free Tibet" in white letters.
An hour into the relay, a man leaped out from the crowd and sat cross-legged about 35 feet in front of the runner. Police quickly hauled him away and the runner didn't stop.
But there were no other challenges to the event and nearly three hours after the start, five-time gold medal winner Ian Thorpe completed the final leg by lighting a ceremonial cauldron.
Away from the route, three Tibetan women blocked the street in front of Parliament. Police also took them away. Another protester shouted "stop killing in Tibet," and he was led off.
Police presence was heavy amid organizers' concerns that chaotic demonstrations that marred the event elsewhere could be repeated.
Protests of China's human rights record and its crackdown on anti-government activists in Tibet have turned the relay into a contentious issue for the Olympic movement. Many countries have changed routes and boosted security along the flame's six-continent journey to the Aug. 8-24 games in Beijing.
People carrying Chinese flags strongly outnumbered those carrying Tibetan flags or placards criticizing Beijing's human rights record. At some places, chanting of "One China" broke out. At others, eager supporters waving Chinese banners tried to keep up with the relay.
Shortly before the start of the relay, television footage showed dozens of China supporters facing off against a group carrying blue-colored flags representing the China's Muslim minority Uighurs. Minor scuffling broke out as officials sought to separate the groups. Police said at least one person was arrested. Soon afterward, Tibetan activists set alight a Chinese flag. Police led away one person.
Security to guard the 80 torchbearers has been boosted -- officials say the expense doubled in recent weeks to $1.9 million -- although the several hundred police expected to be deployed is far fewer than the thousands who guarded the flame in India and Indonesia.
Pro-Tibet groups said said about 500 people showed up in Canberra for peaceful protests. In response, Chinese student groups organized bus trips from Sydney and other cities for those wanting to support the relay.
"We didn't expect this reaction from the Chinese community which is obviously a well-coordinated plan to take the day by weight of numbers," Ted Quinlan, the chief organizer of the Australia relay, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "We have assurances that it will be done peacefully."
Three-foot-tall crowd-control barriers lined the relay circuit, which has been shortened out of security concerns. But it still threads along a 10-mile path past Parliament House and within 200 yards of the Chinese Embassy.
"We are determined that this torch will run its full route," Police Chief Mike Phelan told reporters.
He said three Chinese torch officials allowed near the flame have no security role. Australian officials have sought to play down the role of the Chinese security team that has surrounded the flame on the relay.
There were small protests Wednesday.
In Sydney, activists unfurled a banner over a prominent billboard for relay sponsor Coca-Cola that urged China to open talks with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader. Police charged four people with trespassing.
Earlier, police stopped two people from unfurling a pro-Tibet banner on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. They were fined.
In Canberra, about 150 people attended a vigil outside the Chinese Embassy and spelled out "Free Tibet" with candles.
George Farley, chairman of the Australia Tibet Council, urged the crowd not to be violent, even if provoked, because it could only harm their cause.
"The world believes the cause of Tibet is moral," Farley said. "If they spit on you, just wear it. If they attack you, run away. Do not approach the Chinese, do not interact with them."
In Nepal, authorities forced an American mountaineer with a "Free Tibet" banner in his bags off Mount Everest. Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic torch plan to ascend their side of the world's tallest peak in the early days of May.
The climber, who was identified by a guide company as William Brant Holland, was caught with the banner at Everest's base camp, said Nepalese Tourism Ministry officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The climber is the first to be stopped by soldiers and police stationed on the Nepalese side of Everest during the torch relay.
