Torch relay concerns Norwegian sports head

OSLO, Norway, April 7 (UPI) -- Norway's sport confederation leader says she wants the International Olympic Committee to consider halting the torch relay, given the protests it provokes.

The torch relay drew protests in London and Paris, where officials canceled about half of its planned relay because of run-ins with demonstrators opposing the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Protesters are targeting China's human rights record and its crackdown in Tibet.

Tove Paule, head of the Norwegian sports confederation and Norwegian Olympic Committee, was in Beijing for meetings of the Association of National Olympic Committees. She said the Chinese censored TV coverage of the London protests, and that she found it upsetting when her TV screen "went black," Aftenposten reported.

Paule said she was aware of the protest, calling them "sad." She said the cause of the protests and growing unease over the Chinese response to it must be addressed.

"It's time to call a spade a spade," she said, calling on the IOC to express its concerns to the Chinese before problem become bigger. She told Aftenposten it was pointless to conduct the relay if it would attract trouble.