Police line holds crowd of Pro-Tibet demonstrators outside British Museum as Beijing Olympic flame is carried through London

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A giant security operation, with crowds of police, and a rather sinister phalanx of Chinese security men was mounted to escort the Beijing Olympic flame in a relay across London. The Chinese ambassador had been expected to carry the flame through Bloomsbury, but police decided this would be too dangerous and in a last minute change of plan the torch was hidden inside a vehicle invisible to the angry crowd of protesters behind police barriers and also to the supporters down the road. Police then prevented demonstrators leaving the area for around half an hour to allow the ambassador to walk with the flame in Chinatown.

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Size: 5040px × 3374px
Location: Bloomsbury, London, England, UK
Photo credit: © Peter Marshall / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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