Islamabad, Apr.15 : The Beijing Olympic torch will arrive here on Tuesday night after 44 years. The Olympic torch last came to Pakistan in 1964.

Fans waited with bated breath as a grand rehearsal was conducted on Tuesday ahead of the arrival of the torch from Muscat in Oman.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Makhdoom Raza Gillani will be present to watch the torch relay, which will start on Wednesday afternoon from Jinnah Stadium, just across from the Liaquat Gymnasium.he entire ceremony will be shown live while strict security arrangements have already been inalized for the torch relay.

Up to 66 persons will carry the torch, one after the other, from the starting point to the iaquat Gymnasium for the final functions that will culminate in the lighting of the cauldron.

Prominent among the runners will be former world squash champion Jahangir Khan and celebrated hockey player Hassan Sardar who was the star of the Pakistan team that captured the Olympics gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

The Chinese Ambassador in Islamabad, Luo Zhaohui will also carry the torch.

The torch will arrive in Pakistan from Muscat just after midnight on Wednesday while the main ceremony will be held at 4.00 p.m. later in the day.

The torch has already travelled to Almaty in Kazakhstan, Paris, London, San Francisco and Muscat etc. as it tracks across the world on its137, 000 kilometre journey.

The Olympic flame will have gone to 22 cities in 19 countries before making it to Beijing in time for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games on August 8.

ANI