Sebastian Coe hits out at ‘thuggish’ boys in blue

Lord (Sebastian) Coe, the former gold medalist who runs the committee planning London's 2012 Olympic Games, is one of many people questioning how the blue track-suited Chinese guards protecting the Olympic flame on its controversial world tour were allowed to manhandle people - and even scuffle with British police - in London this week.

Coe was overheard by Channel 4 News saying: "They tried to push me out of the way three times. They are horrible. They did not speak English... I think they were thugs." He added that other cities on the route should "get rid of those guys".

It turns out that the boys in blue are members of the People's Armed Police (PAP), the elite paramilitary police unit used to crush dissent in Tibet earlier this year. Matt Whitticase, a spokesman for the Free Tibet campaign, said: "It beggars belief that personnel from the PAP were allowed on to the streets of London at all."

Konnie Huq (above), the former Blue Peter presenter who took part in the London stage, and was approached by protestors trying to grab the torch from her hands, described how the Chinese guards shouted orders at her and pushed her arm to make her lift the torch higher.

"They were very robotic, very full on, and actually I noticed them having skirmishes with our own police and the Olympic authorities before our leg of the relay, which was confusing," she said.

One passer-by who saw the guards in action in London told The First Post: "I thought they were some sort of gay mafia when they come down the street. They should have a field day in San Francisco."

In fact, the so-called 'Olympic Holy Flame Protection Unit' consists of 30 hand-picked PAP officers. All are above 5ft 9 in - though, according to Chinese bloggers, 6ft 3in is the minimum height - and each has the rank of lieutenant.

Their fitness routine has included running 25 to 20 miles a day and most have martial arts expertise. All have scored highly in "political tests" - a euphemism for ideological training. Most important, they've had lessons from a physics teacher in how to keep a flame from going out.

When the squad was formed last August, their leader, Zhao Si, boasted to the Chinese media that the men's "outstanding physical quality is not in the slightest inferior to that of specialised athletes."

One city where they will not be welcome is Australia's capital, Canberra, where the Olympic torch is due next Tuesday. "I have seen what occurred in London," said Michael Phelan, Canberra's police chief, "and I can tell you that type of security arrangement will not be occurring here."