Olympic torch is whisked to secret location in Australia to avoid anti-China protests

Meter-high (yard-high) fences were being erected along the route where 80 runners will carry the torch through the Australian capital on Thursday.

Hundreds of police will guard the torch in Canberra to prevent the type of interruptions that have plagued the relay in cities including Paris and London during its global march toward the Beijing Olympics in August.

There were small protests Wednesday in Australia.

In Sydney, activists unfurled a huge banner over a prominent billboard for Coca-Cola _ of an Olympic sponsor _ that urged China to open talks with Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama. Police said they detained four people for questioning. Earlier in the city, police stopped two people from unfurling a banner on the landmark Sydney Harbor Bridge that demanded freedom for Tibet from Chinese rule.

In Canberra, about 150 pro-Tibet supporters attended a vigil Wednesday evening outside the Chinese Embassy, and spelled out "Free Tibet" with candles.

Protests over China's human rights record and its crackdown on anti-government activists in Tibet have turned this year's relay into one of the most contentious in recent history. Many countries, including Australia, have responded by modifying routes and boosting security.

Police in Canberra sought to end lingering confusion about the role of Chinese security agents in the relay, with police chief Mike Phelan saying three Chinese "flame attendants" will always be near the torch but will have no official security role.

The blue-clad Chinese officials became notorious following claims they acted like thugs during chaotic protest scenes in London earlier this month.

Chinese ambassador to Australia Zhang Junsai told Channel Nine television news Tuesday that Chinese security officials may intervene, saying: "If the flame is attacked, I believe they will use their body."

However, Australian officials said Wednesday they had sorted out some communication issues between themselves and Chinese officials.

"All security will rest with us," Phelan said. "I don't know if I can be any clearer than that."

He noted that Chinese security officials have no special powers of arrest or immunity from prosecution if they were to intervene during the relay.

The flame arrived at an air base in Canberra from Indonesia and was greeted by government and Olympic officials and Aboriginal elder Agnes Shea, who said she hoped the torch's stay would symbolize "good will for all mankind."

Officials said the flame's location was being kept secret between its arrival and the relay Thursday because of the threat of protests.

"I don't know, and I don't want to know," Australian relay organizer Ted Quinlan told reporters.

Torch bearer Lin Hatfield-Dodds withdrew from the rally Tuesday because of the Tibet issue.

Other torch bearers said the Olympics were the wrong place to make political protests. Ian Thorpe, a five-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer who will carry the torch Thursday, said the protests "shouldn't be centered around a specific event."

Simon Bradshaw of the Australia Tibet Council expected about 500 supporters for what he said would be peaceful protests in Canberra.

"This is not an attempt to mar the Olympics, and it's certainly not an attack on the Chinese people. It's a message of support for Tibet," Bradshaw told The Associated Press.

About 4,000 Chinese students were expected in the capital to support the torch relay.

The relay will thread along a 16-kilometer (10-mile) route that passes Parliament House and within 200 meters (yards) of the Chinese Embassy.

Australian police have been given special powers to stop and search people for prohibited items such as eggs and paint bombs.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said police will come down "like a ton of bricks" on anyone who behaves violently or unlawfully during the relay.

After Australia, the flame will head to Nagano, Japan, where a historic Buddhist temple has backed out of plans to host the flame because of security concerns and unease among its monks about China's treatment of Buddhists in Tibet.

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