A Tibetan dissident group said Sunday it was planning a protest during the flame-lighting ceremony for the Beijing Olympics.
Students for a Free Tibet spokesman Tenzin Dorjee called on the IOC to remove Tibet from the Olympic torch route. He said allowing China to carry the torch through Tibet would be "adding insult to 50 years of bloodstained injury."
"I demand that the IOC drops Tibet from China's torch relay route immediately and unconditionally," Dorjee said.
The flame-lighting ceremony will be held Monday in Ancient Olympia, where the ancient games started in 776 B.C. and continued for more than 1,000 years. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge is scheduled to attend the event.
"The Chinese government has blood on its hands," Dorjee said. "It will bring its torch of shame to the ancient and holy site of Olympia."
About 1,000 police will surround Ancient Olympia to keep pro-Tibetan protesters away from the flame-lighting.
Protests started March 10 in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa on the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule, and turned violent four days later, touching off demonstrations among Tibetans in three neighbouring provinces.
Beijing's official death toll from the rioting is 22, but the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile has said 99 Tibetans have been killed. Dorjee said about 100 Tibetans have been confirmed dead.
"But we have received reports of hundreds dead ... some put (the toll) at 800 dead in the past week," Dorjee said.
AP