Relaxed Omanis welcome Olympic torch

The Olympic torch was paraded through the Omani capital without incident and amid cheers on Monday on the sole Middle East stage of its journey to Beijing for this summer's games. The relay ended after being passed from runner to runner for three and a half hours and being cheered by onlookers. The event began after the heat of the day had eased. Even in April, daytime temperatures in the southern Gulf sultanate can reach 40 degrees Celsius. Liu Ging Min of the Olympic organising committee handed the flame to the governor of Muscat, state minister Sayed al-Motassem bin Hmud al-Busaidi, to begin the parade. Local football club director Sayed Shehab bin Tareq then began the relay through the streets of Muscat, applauded at the start by around 400 people, including about 100 Chinese. Security was low-key and a lone helicopter monitored the 20-kilometre (12-mile) route as the torch was passed between some 80 athletes who carried the flame in relay. Children lined part of the route, waving small Olympic and Omani flags. The Muscat parade was an incident-free stop for the torch which has been dogged by human rights protests on most of its stages so far. Sayed Fatik bin Fahar, a member of the Al-Busaid dynasty which has ruled the sultanate for centuries, told reporters: "This is a great honour. This is a great event. It is not strange that Oman hosts such an event given the security that it enjoys." Demonstrations are rare in the sultanate, which borders Saudi Arabia, and the ruling family does not allow political parties. Earlier the torch was greeted in Muscat on its arrival from Tanzania; at a low-key ceremony attended by Sports Minister Ali bin Massoud bin Ali al-Sunaidi and representatives of the Chinese diplomatic mission. "A warm welcome to the Olympic torch," said a red banner unfurled by the reception party. Oman enjoys good relations with China, a major destination for Omani oil exports, and Chinese companies are working on several major infrastructure projects in the sultanate, including a 130-million-dollar highway. Most people in Oman appeared indifferent to the Olympic torch relay taking place in their country for the first time, with many local newspapers confining their reports to the sports pages. China's hopes of winning international prestige by sending the Olympic torch through 135 cities on five continents ahead of the August 8 opening of the Olympic Games have already been severely dented. The early stages in London and Paris were overshadowed by demonstrations against Beijing's repression of protests in Tibet, and the third stage in San Francisco was also drastically curtailed and seen by relatively few people. Before Muscat, the legs in Buenos Aires and Dar es Salaam passed off with little incident, however. The next leg is Islamabad, kicking off an Asian tour. In the latest amendment to the tour, Pakistan on Monday slashed its leg of the Olympic relay for security reasons, a senior Pakistani sports official said. The torch, which arrives in Pakistan on Wednesday, was supposed to travel through the streets of Islamabad before reaching a stadium for a ceremony. But the relay will now be confined to the Jinnah Stadium, the official said. The ceremony is expected to be attended by President Pervez Musharraf who earlier Monday condemned protests that have marred the torch relay, and vowed to maintain security when the flame arrived.