May 22, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 05, 1428

LONDON, May 21: Scotland's new first minister backed the case for a separate Scottish Olympics team on Sunday, after a report his administration was to seek permission from the International Olympics Committee (IOC).

The Sunday Times said Alex Salmond, leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), would convene a meeting of the country's main sporting bodies within 100 days to draft a formal application to the IOC.

Speaking on BBC television, Salmond said the issue had not yet been discussed by the 18-member Scottish Executive which he heads and the immediate focus would be on health and education policy plus the Scottish economy.

But he added: “It's certainly a good idea.”Salmond's SNP won a one-seat victory in the May 3 elections for the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, which has limited powers to set policy in areas like health, education, transport and law and order.

The party's election manifesto contained plans to hold a referendum on whether to sever the 300-year-old union with England and Wales by 2010.

But he could face a tough time getting that through the 129-member parliament as the SNP does not have a majority and has been unable to form a formal coalition.

Salmond, 52, has previously criticised the current situation whereby Scottish athletes are part of a British team at the Olympics but compete as a separate nation at the Commonwealth Games and in other sports like football.

Last October he described a proposal to have a British football team at the 2012 Olympics as ‘high-handed and deplorable’.

His argument for a separate status for Scotland within the IOC is based on other Olympic nations who do not strictly meet the criterion of being “an independent state recognised by the international community”.

But Craig Reedie, a Scotsman who is vice-president of the British Olympic Committee (BOA), was quoted by The Sunday Times as saying the SNP application would be rejected.

“What they should be doing is concentrating on making sure that as many Scottish athletes as possible are represented in the British team in 2012,” he added.—AFP