ISLAMABAD -- The Beijing Olympic flame arrived in Pakistani capital Islamabad at 0:25 local time (1925GMT) Wednesday for the 10th leg of its global tour.
Executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Games Jiang Xiaoyu (C) receives a warm welcome from Arif Hassan, President of Pakistan Olympic (R) as the Olympic flame arrives in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 16, 2008. [Xinhua] |
The Olympic flame, carried in a specially-designed lantern, was flied to Islamabad on a chartered plane from Muscat, the capital and largest city of the Sultanate of Oman.
Upon arrival, the Olympic flame and the whole delegation were welcomed by a cheering crowd, among whom are President of Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) Arif Hassan, Pakistan's Sports Minister Muhammad Asif and Chairman of Capital Development Authority Kamran Lashari as well as Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Luo Zhaohui.
The flame delegation is headed by Jiang Xiaoyu, vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of Olympic Games (BOCOG), who carried the flame lantern.
The POA president said he has got "great feelings" after offering a bunch of flowers to Jiang.