Fed: I won't be surprised if IOC cuts Aust torch leg - Nelson

AAP General News (Australia)
04-11-2008
Fed: I won't be surprised if IOC cuts Aust torch leg - Nelson

Opposition Leader BRENDAN NELSON says he wouldn't be surprised if the International
Olympic Committee cancelled the Australian leg of the torch relay.

He's told ABC radio he wouldn't criticise the IOC if it scraps our event .. given the
trouble the relay's had so far.

But Greens leader BOB BROWN says the torch protests have been the single biggest breakthrough
for the Tibetans in decades.

And he says while the demonstrations have been criticised for being violent .. it's
not in the same order as the hundreds of thousands of people who've died in Tibet.

He says while he doesn't condone violence .. the overriding violence we have to keep
our mind on is to the Tibetan people.

AAP RTV dep/bart

KEYWORD: OLY08 TORCH NELSON (CANBERRA)

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