Indecision Cloaks Route Of Olympic Torch

SAN FRANCISCO — The Olympic torch is coming to San Francisco. Exactly where is another question.

Two weeks before the torch arrives here for its only stop in North America, San Francisco officials say they still have no final plans on its route through the city. And the delay has upset some groups — including members of the always-vocal San Francisco Board of Supervisors — that want to use the torch’s procession to protest China’s human rights record and its crackdown in Tibet.

Michael Risher, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which has asked the city to hurry up and publicize its plans for the April 9 event, said his concern was that fans of the Games, due to begin in Beijing on Aug. 8, would be tipped off while protesters would be left wondering.

“We’re concerned that the people who are going to come to the ceremony and cheer will be given information,” Mr. Risher said, “and those that want to come and jeer will not.”

The jeering section includes some supervisors who are expected to introduce a nonbinding resolution on Thursday calling on the city to receive the torch with “alarm and protest at the failure of China” on human rights. A similar measure has already been voted down this month.

All this is no doubt a headache for Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has met with the event organizers and police and transit officials several times this week, and shortened a planned eight-mile procession in response to various concerns, including security.

“As soon as we have some concrete expectations that the route won’t change materially, we’ll put it out,” Mr. Newsom said.

The mayor did disclose some details. He said the flame would begin and end its visit at AT&T Park, where baseball’s Giants play, and would travel the city’s waterfront. Protesters will be allowed at various points along the route, he said, and some areas will be set aside for larger demonstrations.

San Francisco was chosen as the sole North American host of the torch in part because of its large Chinese-American population. But among early plans for the flame that have been dropped was a trip through Chinatown, where organizers feared that the small streets would be overwhelmed by crowds. A planned ride on a cable car and a trip to Alcatraz were also shelved.

The torch had a bumpy international debut on Monday, when protesters tried to disrupt the lighting ceremony in Greece. Given that, Mr. Newsom said, whatever final plans the city makes could themselves be changed right up until the flame’s arrival from Paris.

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