Beijing: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today joined British Prime Minister and possibly French President to skip the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics as the Games torch, which underwent a tortuous route in the wake of massive anti-China protests, reached Buenos Aires without a hitch.

Ban is not going to Beijing because of scheduling issues and conveyed his inability to attend the ceremony two months ago, a spokesperson for the Secretary General, Marie Okabe said without linking it to the worldwide protests against the alleged Chinese repression in Tibet.

Several human rights and activist groups have called on the world leaders to boycott the opening ceremony of the Games scheduled for August 8.

Already, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that he would not travel to Beijing for the opening ceremony. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has indicated that he is considering not attending.

President George Bush too is under pressure to boycott the ceremony from the powerful Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. All three presidential hopefuls Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton - both Democrats and John McCain, Republican favour Bush skipping the ceremony.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper have said that they plan to stay away from the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

The European Parliament too has urged the leaders of its 27 member countries to boycott the opening ceremony unless China opens dialogue with the Dalai Lama, a condition unlikely to be met.
Source : PTI