Completes clean-up as IOC inspectors arrive

Several IOC inspectors arrived on Monday morning, with the remaining members of the bid committee expected to arrive by Tuesday, a China Olympic Committee spokesman said. The inspectors will begin their final inspection of Beijing's facilities on Wednesday, the spokesman said. Beijing would offer a "green" and "scientific" 2008 games by promoting environmental protection and using "state-of-the-art technology" in everything from stadium construction to traffic control, the official China Daily quoted Beijing Mayor Liu Qi as saying.

Armies of cleaners, painters and gardeners worked long shifts over the weekend to spruce up buildings and bridges on main roads and add potted plants, plastic flowers and green verges. Thousands of schoolchildren joined the weekend clean-up, the Beijing Morning Post and other state media said. Police and security guards stepped up surveillance after the suicide of a 25-year-old alleged Falun Gong follower from central China who set fire to himself in Beijing on Friday.

Outdoor tables were removed from restaurants and shopping centres on Monday, and security guards ordered lunchtime customers not to eat food on the street. Special traffic rules have banned heavy trucks, commercial tricycles, horse carts and minibuses from many areas, while pedestrians and cyclists also face stricter controls. On Monday, the banned Zhong Gong movement, similar but smaller than Falun Gong, issued a statement urging the IOC to help secure the release of its jailed leaders.

Some 600 Zhong Gong leaders have been detained or formally arrested, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said. Most human rights groups have not directly opposed Beijing's bid, but have urged the IOC and Western governments to demand the release of jailed dissidents and improvements to China's overall human rights record. The IOC plans to announce the host city for the 2008 Olympics on July 13. Beijing's rivals are Paris, Osaka, Toronto and Istanbul.

(la/dpa)