Olympic 'flame of shame' protest condemned

OLYMPIA, Greece (CNN) -- Greece condemned human rights protesters who disrupted the Olympic torch lighting ceremony Monday.

Policemen detain a protester as he holds a banner at the beginning of the flame-lighting ceremony.

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Three protesters charged onto the field of an ancient Greek stadium to unfurl a banner calling for a boycott to the Beijing Summer Games.

The brief disruption unnerved thousands of spectators, dignitaries and Olympic officials who packed into the sprawling ancient stadium to watch actresses posing as priestesses light the Olympic flame from the sun's rays.

More protests, however, followed later as the torch relay began. A Tibetan woman covered herself with red paint and lay on the ground, forcing torchbearers to weave around her as other protesters shouted "Flame of shame."

"The government condemns every attempt to interfere with the ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic flame through actions that have no relation at all with the Olympic spirit," said Evangelos Antonaros, Greece's junior government spokesman.