The invisible torch in San Fransisco by Craig Lloyd

Hours before the Olympic torch was to begin its journey, pro-China forces and Tibetan sympathizers staked out their positions at the spot where it was to end the day in triumph.

The flame would never arrive.

The iconic symbol of the Olympic movement, one that had sparked violent protests in Europe days earlier, had become such a lightning rod for dissent that police and city officials yesterday aborted much of the planned relay. The scheduled 10-kilometre circuit was drastically reduced and rerouted away from demonstrators.

A planned closing ceremony at the San Francisco waterfront where the relay route was supposed to end was cancelled, leaving those who had been waiting for hours to see the torch confused and angry.

"This is a friggin' shame," said one man walking past the ball park. "The torch relay in San Francisco has been a friggin' disaster."

The city had been bracing for the kind of protest actions witnessed at torch relay events in London and Paris in recent days, where demonstrators raced past police barricades in an attempt to grab the iconic symbol of the Olympics as it passed by.

"We're not against the Olympics, we're against violations of human rights," said Samten Chinkarlaprang, a Tibetan who owns a Berkeley cafe. She was participating in the protest with five friends from Minneapolis. They held up a sign that read: "Expose China's Brutality in Tibet."

Protesters marched about one mile to the China Consulate on Laguna Street.

During the afternoon, a plane flew over the city pulling a banner that read: Stop Cultural Genocide in Tibet."

Another rally and candlelight vigil are scheduled for this evening for the United Nations Plaza.

More protests are planned for Wednesday, when the torch is scheduled to be run through San Francisco.

The Olympic flame was whisked to a secret location shortly after its pre-dawn arrival Tuesday following widespread and chaotic demonstrations during the torch relay in London and Paris. Activists are protesting China's human rights record, its grip on Tibet and support for Sudan despite years of bloodshed in Darfur.

The flame is scheduled to be paraded through the city Wednesday on a six-mile route that hugs San Francisco Bay.