Greece has handed the Olympic flame to China amid unprecedented security measures after pro-Tibet protestors tried to disrupt ceremonies.
A small group of activists tried to stop the Olympic flame from reaching the Athens stadium where it was due to be handed to Chinese officials but they were quickly removed by Greek police.
The protestors holding Tibet flags and shouting Free Tibet and China out of Tibet had tried but failed to break through the police cordon and get to the last torch bearer entering the venue.
Greek authorities posted hundreds of police along the flame's route and scores of security vehicles followed the torch bearers as helicopters hovered overhead, the strictest security measures since the torch relay started in 1936.
The relay is billed as the most ambitious of all time with the high point being an ascent of Mount Everest in May and several hotspots along the route, including a controversial Tibet leg in June.
Protestors defied tight security to disrupt the torch-lighting ceremony in Ancient Olympia last Monday and concern about potential trouble has dogged the week-long relay through Greece, which is not part of the relay proper.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics begin in 130 days and the relay officially starts on Tuesday in Beijing when the sacred flame is scheduled to depart for Almaty.
The Kazakh capital is the first stop on an odyssey through 19 countries during April that is followed by an epic three-month tour around China.
Security is tight in the Chinese capital, Beijing, and details have yet to be released concerning the torch welcoming ceremony scheduled for Tiananmen Square.
China branded the protests a week ago in Greece as shameful and has put pressure on cities along the international route to ensure smooth progress while stops inside China such as Shanghai say it is stepping up security.
The torch relay is the longest ever, lasting 130 days and covering 137,000km and offers ample opportunity for demonstrations on an array of issues including Tibet.
Tibet's government in exile claims up to 140 people have died in recent anti-China unrest, while Beijing puts the death toll at 20.
Pro-Tibet activists and others are planning demonstrations at various points along the way, including London on 6 April , Paris on 7 April and San Francisco on 9 April, the only stop in the United States.
Campaign groups are also planning protests in China but officials there and in Tibet, where the torch is expected to be in mid-June, are confident there will be no security breaches, even during the ascent of Everest, scheduled for May.
