Japan to bar Chinese torch security forces

TOKYO, April 11 (UPI) -- Japanese officials say Chinese security guards accompanying the Olympic torch on its international relay won't be guarding the flame on Japanese soil.

Japanese safety officials said security in Japan is handled solely by domestic police -- a position that won't change because of the Olympics, The Times of London reported Friday.

"I do not personally accept the idea that they will run in Japan as they ran in other countries," Shinya Izumi, National Public Safety Commission chairman, said while discussing arrangements for the Nagano leg of the torch relay to take place this month.

Izumi said any security role the track-suited security force plays during the relay -- including pushing protesters off the road -- would infringe Japan's sovereignty.

Beijing organizers has been reassuring the International Olympic Committee about security measure during the remainder of the Olympic torch relay, now in Buenos Aires.

"The (Beijing) organizing committee (Friday) did underline to us that they have taken steps to make sure any risk, if there is any, is mitigated and we're very confident and comfortable with that," Giselle Davies, an IOC spokeswoman, said.

Australia also refused to allow Chinese security to run with the torch when the relay reaches Canberra.