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Olympic Torch Passes Through Tanzania Without Disruption

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The Olympic torch has passed without disruption through Tanzania's capital Dar es Salaam, its only stop on the African continent.

Tanzanian Vice President Mohamed Shein lit the torch Sunday and handed it over to Cabinet minister Seif Khatib at the start of a five-kilometer relay in the Indian Ocean city.

The original 25-kilometer torch relay through Dar es Salaam was scaled back after pro-Tibet protests disrupted the progress of the torch during stops in European and U.S. cities.

Mr. Shein said Tanzania fully supports the Beijing Olympics and is honored to host the torch relay.

Earlier, Kenya's Nobel Prize laureate, political and environmental activist, Wangari Maathai pulled out of the relay, citing concerns over China's role in conflict and human rights violations in Tibet, Burma and the Sudanese region of Darfur.

The torch is scheduled to leave Tanzania for Oman today.

The torch relay in Argentina on Friday was also trouble free. But officials in Australia today said they are changing the relay route through the capital, Canberra, to enable tighter security following anti-China protests in Paris and London. The torch is scheduled to arrive in Canberra on April 24.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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