BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A Beijing Olympic official has strongly condemned the disruption of the Olympic torch relay in Paris by a very small number of "Tibet independence" secessionists and a handful of so-called human rights-minded NGO activists.

      A spokesman of the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee said on Monday that the serious incident clearly showed that "Tibet independence" secessionists have been disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games in a planned, premeditate and organized way.

      What the separatists have been doing are far from "peaceful" demonstrations, but attempts to foil the smooth relay of the Beijing Olympic torch through violent means, and has thus blasphemed the Olympic spirit, he said.

      France is the hometown of Pierre De Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, said the spokesman. The large number of Paris residents turning out to welcome the Olympic sacred flame showed that the flame belongs to the people of the whole world.

      The "Tibet independence" separatists' malicious and open challenge of the Olympic spirit and the Olympic Charter has proved unpopular and is bound to fail, he said.

      The Beijing Olympic Games is not only a grand event for the Chinese people, but also for people all over the world. It bears great significance for glorifying the Olympic spirit, spreading the Olympic culture and promoting the development of the Olympic Games, said the official, adding that the Beijing Olympic torch relay will surely win wide support from all peace-loving people across the world, and will not be thwarted by any force.