Oslo: Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg today rejected one of his cabinet minister's suggestions that Norway should consider boycotting the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympic Games.

"A boycott of the Olympic Games by the Norwegian government is completely out of the question," Stoltenbeg told the Norwegian NTB news agency in Bucharest, where he is participating in a NATO summit.

"We believe that we can express our points of view on human rights through other means than boycott," he said, adding that he was also against a boycott of the opening ceremony.

Earlier today, the Norwegian minister in charge of sports, Trond Giske, raised the question of a boycott of the opening August 8 Beijing ceremony to protest human rights abuses in China and the Chinese authorities crackdown in Tibet.

"I'm wondering if we should have political representation there. Not attending would send a clear signal, and the threat from several countries of not going could force the Chinese authorities to act," Giske told NRK public radio.

As Norway's minister of cultural and Church affairs, who also is in charge of sports, Giske is expected to represent the Scandinavian country at the opening ceremony alongside the Norwegian royal couple.

Source : PTI