Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister, Won't Attend Olympics Opening Ceremony

stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust

AP   |   April 9, 2008 04:59 PM

Read More: Britain, British Prime Minister, England, Gordon Brown, Gordown Brown Olympics Opening, Olympics, Olympics Opening Ceremony, Prime Minister Gordown Brown Britain, Uk, United Kingdom, Breaking Home News
Show your support.
Buzz this article up.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will not attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summer Olympics, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Brown's office said he was not boycotting the Olympics and would attend the closing ceremony.

Brown has been under intense pressure from human rights campaigners to skip the opening ceremony on Aug. 8 to protest Beijing's ongoing crackdown in Tibet.

Brown's decision not to attend the opening ceremony was not aimed at sending a message of protest to the Chinese government, the spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.

Keep reading here.

Read here about the protests that have surrounded the Olympic torch relay.

 
 

Comments
1
Pending Comments
0

Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to

View Comments:
- MTGradwell See Profile I'm a Fan of MTGradwell

This is the same Gordon Brown who, just over a month ago, was widely reported (most notably in the Observer) to be "absolutely determined" to attend the opening ceremony.

But now: "He had never planned to attend," [the anonymous spokeswoman] said. "There is absolutely no change in our position."

"We are fully engaged in supporting the Olympics. We want to see it as a success, and I think it's right that the prime minister represents us." - David Miliband, the foreign secretary, in March.

To be sure, David Milliband doesn't use the words "opening ceremony" in that quote; and the reports I have seen about Gordon Brown being absolutely determined to attend the opening ceremony don't quote his actual words, and it is possible that they misrepresent him. But then surely there would have been some sort of denial or correction from Number 10 before now.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:48 AM on 04/10/2008
Comments are closed for this entry

You must be logged in to reply to this comment. Log in

 
 

Related Tags
Britain, British Prime Minister, England, Gordon Brown, Gordown Brown Olympics Opening, Olympics, Olympics Opening Ceremony, Prime Minister Gordown Brown Britain, Uk, United Kingdom
 

 Site  Web ask.com