Olympic Torch extinguished in Paris

The Olympic torch had to be extinguished twice and put on a bus as it made its way through France Monday. This comes on the heels of British protests, where 37 people were arrested in London Sunday during a Pro-Tibet rally. Over 3,000 police officers were on duty in Paris, trying to keep the over 500 French protesters at bay. The demonstrators waved banners, booed and chanted“Tibet” as the torch passed by. French police subdued a member of the French Green Party after an attempt to grab the torch from the first torch runner and the torch was placed on a bus after several hundred protesters booed an athlete in a wheelchair tried to weave his way through a traffic tunnel. Speaking in Beijing earlier, IOC President Jacques Rogge said he was concerned over both the recent unrest in Paris and the torch protests. "The International Olympic Committee has expressed its serious concern and calls for a rapid peaceful resolution in Tibet," Mr Rogge said.
He condemned the attempts to disrupt the torch relay, saying violent protests, "for whatever reason," are "not compatible with the values of the torch relay or the Olympic Games". The protests are a response to China's security crackdown in Tibet following a series of protests against Chinese rule which swept the region last month. (AP Photo/Patrick Kovarik)