April 13, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 6, 1429

BEIJING, April 12: The International Olympic Committee will not intervene to pressure China on Tibet or other political issues in the countdown to the Beijing Games.

IOC President Jacques Rogge reiterated that stance Friday, saying it was not up to the Olympic body to get involved in the host country’s political affairs.

“This is the line we do not have to cross,” he said at the close of a two-day IOC executive board meeting in the Chinese capital.

China’s recent crackdown in Tibet has fueled protests that have disrupted the global torch relay for the Beijing Games. Rogge has expressed hope for a peaceful resolution of the turmoil in the Himalayan region. But he said on Thursday he would not press China to open talks on Tibet, calling that a “political matter in which the IOC cannot enter.”

“This is a sovereign matter for China to decide,” he added.

Rogge, who met on Wednesday with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, described the talks as “very useful ... frank and open and candid.”

“The IOC expressed its view to the prime minister concerning the preparation of the Olympic Games,” he said. “It was definitely a good meeting for the outcome of the preparation of the Olympic Games.”

In Tibet, the recent demonstrations against 50 years of Chinese rule have been the largest and most sustained in almost two decades. —AP