HONG KONG (AFP) – In order to avoid further incidents, the authorities of different countries who are about to receive the Olympic flame back to Asia this week, have strengthened security measures and sometimes changes its course..

Strongly heckled by pro-Tibet demonstrators in London and Paris, before continuing its journey through San Francisco and Buenos Aires, it will still, like a head of state, and the protected object of attention until 8 August, the day of the scheduled opening of the Olympics in Beijing.

On Tuesday, Japanese officials have canceled a concert that was to close the torch relay of the Beijing Olympics in Nagano Olympic Stadium (center) on April 26 because of safety concerns related to pro-Tibetan protests.

Many of our municipal employees and security guards should watch the torch relay itself and we have no way to organize this event further, said Koichi Yajima, a senior official of the municipality Nagano hosted the Winter Olympics 1998.

If until 2004, and the Athens Olympics, the Torch was mostly a national affair, that the Beijing Games has broken all records, with 130 days and travel 137,000 kilometers traveled planned over five continents with steps in 19 countries.

In Islamabad, the first torch in this country until recently rocked by violence, the course was shortened due to weather conditions and the overall situation in terms of safety, said an official of sports, Lieutenant-Colonel Baseer Haider Malik told AFP. There will be limited to Jinnah Stadium which will host a ceremony, while the flame was originally scheduled to cross the city, he added.