June 19, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 14, 1429

KASHGAR (China), June 18: Hundreds of security personnel lined the streets to head off any disruption as the Olympic torch relay resumed on Wednesday in western China’s restive Muslim region of Xinjiang.

Black-gloved security agents jogged alongside the torch as it wound through the streets of Kashgar, an ancient Silk Road city near the borders with Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Foreign journalists were not allowed along the route, where cheering bystanders shouted “Go China!” under sunny skies.

Also Wednesday, Olympic torch relay organizers said the flame will make a one-day stop in Tibet’s capital of Lhasa on Saturday.

That leg has been shrouded in secrecy because of political sensitivities surrounding Tibet. The route has been criticized by Tibet activist groups who see it as an attempt by Beijing to symbolize its control over the Himalayan region.

China says it has ruled Tibet for centuries, although many Tibetans say their homeland was essentially independent for much of that time. Tensions were aggravated in March when protests against Chinese rule in Lhasa and other ethnic Tibetan areas throughout China led to a security clampdown in the region.

Tight security measures are expected for the Lhasa stop.

The Kashgar relay began near a downtown mosque with several speeches praising China’s development over the last 30 years.

Hundreds of militia and police lined the torch relay route and bystanders, who were bused in from their work units, had to go through metal detectors.

Xinjiang officials accompanied foreign journalists on a bus to the relay and did not allow them to wander from the group.—AP