The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Athens

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will discuss whether global torch relays are still a good idea after the spate of anti-China protests that dogged the Beijing Games relay, the IOC said Friday.

"We are not blind, neither naive," IOC President Jacques Rogge told a news conference at the end of a three-day IOC executive board meeting in Athens.

"The torch has been utilised by protesters, and unfortunately these protests have been violenttwe will take that into account in our assessment of the Olympic Games in Beijing as a whole," Rogge said.

The Beijing torch relay has suffered a series of mishaps since it started its journey at the beginning of April.

The London, Paris and San Francisco legs of the relay were interrupted by pro-Tibet protesters objecting to China's crackdown on violence in Lhasa, the capital of the Himalayan region, that erupted on March 14.

In mainland China, the torch has suffered from the over-enthusiasm of huge crowds, which has forced organisers to put out the flame on several occasions.

The relay was also interrupted last month during the three-day mourning period for the victims of the earthquake that struck Sichuan province on May 12, killing over 68,900 people and leaving nearly 18,000 missing.