Aussies to turn backs on Olympic torch during April 24 relay

Melbourne, Apr.9 : Pro-Tibet Australian protesters are planning to turn their backs on the Olympic torch during its Australian relay leg this month.

Callers to talkback radio stations around the country suggested the non-violent action following chaotic scenes in Paris this week.

Activist group GetUp spokesman Ed Coper was quoted by news.com.au as saying that a peaceful protest would be much more effective than any form of violence.

Indigenous protesters have used back turning as a potent silent symbol of dissent for several years, most recently during federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson's speech to the parliamentary apology to the stolen generations.

The torch was extinguished several times during the Paris leg on Monday, while protesters have vowed to stop the torch in San Francisco tomorrow.

In London on Sunday, witnesses criticised the blue-tracksuited Chinese torch escorts who have formed a security ring around the flame since the international leg started in Kazakhstan last week.

Asked if the flame attendants would be allowed to guard the torch on the Australian leg in Canberra on April 24, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Australia would be providing all security.

"And I mean all security - that which physically surrounds the torch when it's in Canberra. My advice from Canberra is that will be the case on the ground,'' Rudd said from Beijing.

ANI