Olympic torch heads to Asia, bringing security headache

The torch's round-the-world trip so far is a PR disaster for Olympics host China, and the protests by pro-Tibet and human rights activists are presenting officials from New Delhi to Canberra with a headache.

Some have amended the route the torch will take. Others are adding extra security. Still others have pledged to treat the torch with the protection a visiting head of state would get.

"I have no truck with people wanting to protest," said Ted Quinlan, who is in charge of security for the April 23 Canberra leg.

"But disruptive protests and protests that in fact involve assault of one form or another, we can't countenance," he told AFP.

Trouble has dogged the torch since protesters disrupted the flame lighting ceremony in Olympia in Greece on March 24 following China's military crackdown in the Himalayan region.

In London, police struggled to keep demonstrators from grabbing the torch, while in Paris officials were forced to extinguish the flame several times and cut short the relay.

The torch landed Monday in Muscat after a stopover in Dar es Salaam, having earlier gone to San Francisco and Buenos Aires.

It arrives Wednesday in Islamabad and the next day in New Delhi, then goes to ...