Tibet officials vow tight security for Games torch

By Chris Buckley and Lindsay Beck

BEIJING (Reuters) - China vowed strict security for the Olympic torch relay through restive Tibet on Monday as protesters tried to disrupt the torch lighting ceremony in Greece, clouding Beijing's hopes of the relay symbolising national unity.

Three human rights demonstrators tried to interrupt the ceremony in ancient Olympia while the Beijing Games organising chief was speaking. The protesters were quickly detained and Chinese state media made no mention of the brief incident.

Paris-based Reporters without Frontiers, a press freedom group, said it had staged the demonstration and would continue to protest until the Games opened in Beijing on Aug. 8.

Beijing has stepped up its drive to rally support for the Games in response to international attention on Tibet. But Monday's protest in Greece was a sign of challenges to come as the torch circles the globe.

China blames the unrest on the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's spiritual leader.

"The political monk's statement of supporting the Beijing Olympic Games has been proven a lie; his followers boycotted the torch relay and resorted to violence in Lhasa and elsewhere," the official Xinhua news agency said of the Dalai Lama.

The government has also sought to contain dissent elsewhere.

On Monday, a Chinese court sentenced an unemployed factory worker to five years in jail on charges of inciting subversion.