Olympic torch arrived in Pakistan after 44 years
16 April, 2008
ISLAMABAD: The Beijing Olympic torch arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday night.
The Olympic torch last came to the country in 1964.
Fans waited with bated breath as a grand rehearsal was conducted Tuesday on the eve of Islamabad leg of the Torch Relay for this year's Beijing Olympics.
The torch arriveed in Islamabad from Muscat in a Chartered plane.
In case Pakistan's verdant capital city is lashed with rains again on Wednesday, the ceremony of Torch Relay, to be studded with fireworks, will takeplace within Liaquat
The President and the Prime Minister of the country will be present to watch the Torch Relay which will start in the afternoon from Jinnah Stadium, the main stadium in Pakistan Sports Complex, just across from Liaquat Gymnasium.
The entire ceremony will be shown live while strict security arrangements have already been finalized for the Torch Relay which will be the first time ever that Torch of any Olympics will come to Pakistan.
Up to 66 persons will carry the torch, one after the other, from the starting point to the Liaquat Gymnasium for the final functions which 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 of Beijing Olympics, to be held August 8-24, has already traveled to Paris, London, San Francisco, 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.
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