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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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More Notables Stay Away From Beijing Olympics

Nobel laureate scraps torch relay; UN chief won't attend opening

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(Newser) – The controversy around the Olympic flame continued as Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel laureate, announced she was dropping out of the torch relay. Maathai was to carry the torch this weekend in Tanzania but pulled out in protest of China's human rights record. Maathai also told the Los Angeles Times that she supports fellow Nobelist Desmond Tutu's call for a boycott of the opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, aides to Ban Ki-moon said yesterday that the UN secretary-general would not attend the opening of the Beijing Games. Ban's office cited a "scheduling conflict" and said the UN leader would rather make a "substantive visit to China." Like Gordon Brown and Angela Merkel before him, Ban insisted that the decision to stay away from the opening ceremony was not a snub.

A Tibetan supporter, right, argues with a Chinese supporter at a rally for China's Olympic torch at the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 9, 2008.
A Tibetan supporter, right, argues with a Chinese supporter at a rally for China's Olympic torch at the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 9, 2008.   (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Wangari Maathai, second from left, has pulled out of the Olympic torch relay.
Wangari Maathai, second from left, has pulled out of the Olympic torch relay.   (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy ,center, embraces Kenya's 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmentalist Wangari Maathai, right, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, Oct. 25 , 2007.
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy ,center, embraces Kenya's 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmentalist Wangari Maathai, right, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, Oct. 25 , 2007.   (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai attends the opening of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault , Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai attends the opening of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault , Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008.   (AP Photo/John McConnico)
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrives at the Athenaeum to attend a NATO Cultural Event, Thursday, April 3, 2008, in Bucharest, Romania.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrives at the Athenaeum to attend a NATO Cultural Event, Thursday, April 3, 2008, in Bucharest, Romania.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attends a meeting on the conflict between Chad and Sudan at the Presidential Palace in Dakar, Senegal.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attends a meeting on the conflict between Chad and Sudan at the Presidential Palace in Dakar, Senegal.   (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
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2008 Beijing Olympics • Olympic torch • Wangari Maathai • Olympic boycotts • Olympic protests • torch relay • Ban Ki-Moon

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