ATHENS, March 30: Greece handed over the Olympic torch to the organisers of the Beijing Games on Sunday in a tightly-guarded Athens ceremony, after police arrested some anti-Chinese protesters.

About a dozen demonstrators who also tried to unfurl a banner were taken into custody at the entrance to the all-marble Panathinaiko Stadium, where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896.

Thousands of people, including groups of Chinese tourists, packed the stadium to witness the formal handover of the Olympic flame to Beijing organisers of the games to be held in August. The Olympic torch is now headed to Beijing on board a special chartered jet from China Air.

The Olympic torch is set on Wednesday to begin a relay, the longest ever, of 130 days and covering 137,000 kilometres. Most of it will be on Chinese soil.—AFP