Olympic torch arrives in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, Turkey, April 3 (UPI) -- The Olympic torch arrived Thursday in Istanbul from Kazakhstan on its global journey toward Beijing for the August Games.

A chartered plane landed at the Ataturk International Airport and the flame was carried off by Beijing Organizing Committee of Olympic Games Executive Vice President Jiang Xiaoyu, Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper reported.

Various Turkish athletes were to run a 11-mile relay through the city before lighting the city's Olympic cauldron at Taksim Square, the report said.

The Olympic torch flame was lit March 24 at the Ancient Olympia in Greece and after a six-day tour of Greece was given to Beijing on March 31. Some 21,880 torch bearers will participate in the international 130-day relay before it's carried into Beijing's National Stadium on Aug. 8 for the beginning of the Games, the report said.

Friday, the torch and its contingent are to arrive in St. Petersburg, Russia.