Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com). Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it exclusively produces is in the public domain. March 30, 2008 Olympic Flame Handed to China, Athens Protesters Arrested --------------------------------------------------------- http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1BB5A71:A6F02AD83191E1606361678EAA2B46B170AD7039DCD7B7E4& Witnesses say protesters, waving Tibetan flags and chanting anti-Chinese slogans, were arrested in Athens Chinese spectators wave flags during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at Athens' Panathenian Stadium, 30 Mar 2008Greece has handed the Olympic torch to organizers of the Beijing Summer Games, after a small group of protesters tried unsuccessfully to block the handover ceremony. WItnesses say the protesters, waving Tibetan flags and chanting anti-Chinese slogans, were arrested in Athens Sunday while trying to break through police lines to stop a runner carrying the torch from reaching the handover site. Hundreds of Greek police officers were on alert, after sporadic protests last week along the torch relay route from ancient Olympia. China has come under pressure from the United Nations and Western governments over its crackdown on protests in Tibet. China blames demonstrators for 20 deaths since protests began earlier this month. Tibetan activists say as many as 140 Tibetans have been killed by Chinese police. The protests spread last week to ancient Olympia, when several members of the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders disrupted the traditional flame lighting ceremony. The torch will be flown from Athens to Beijing, where runners will carry it across much of the world in the run-up to the August Summer Games. Pro-Tibetan activists have vowed to shadow the torch on its journey. On one leg of the route, the torch is set to pass through Tibet on its way to Mt. Everest. Human rights groups are demanding a ban on that part of the journey, until Beijing agrees to permit an international investigation of the Tibetan unrest. Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters. .