Special report:   2008 Olympic Games

    BEIJING, April 12 (Xinhua) -- A number of foreign governments and senior officials have expressed support for the Beijing Olympic Games, condemning those deeds of disrupting the Olympic torch relay and politicizing the sports event.

    Baleka Mbete, Speaker of South Africa's National Assembly, said Friday at a press conference for the 118th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) that appeals for boycotting the Olympics and disrupting the torch relay will never gain popular support.

    She said any person with conscience will condemn such deeds of obstructing the Olympic Games which is a grand sports occasion for the entire human being.

    She also stressed that Tibet is an inalienable part of China. "Any sovereign country would not allow the separation of its territories," said Mbete.

    IPU Secretary General Anders B. Johnsson also told the press conference that the IPU is strongly opposed to violent deeds and is against any act of obstructing the Olympic Games.

    He said such a grand sports occasion should not be politicized and any word or act of boycotting the Olympics is erroneous.

    South Korea's Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry said Friday that the country fully supports the Olympic torch relay and the government is making preparations to welcome the torch for its Seoul leg of the relay.

    Thailand's Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama on Friday voiced his government's support for the Beijing Olympics and condemned attempts and activities to disrupt and sabotage the Olympic torch relay in some countries.

    Noppadon said Thailand opposes any attempt to link the Olympics, a common heritage for humankind, to politics.

    He said the country's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej will attend the Aug. 8 opening ceremony of the Games.

    Noppadon also showed the confidence that Thailand will successfully hold the Olympic torch relay in its capital Bangkok on April 19.

    Peruvian President Alan Garcia has condemned some international forces for trying to use the Tibet and Taiwan issues to disrupt the Beijing Olympics and defame China's image.

    In a signed article on Peru's leading newspaper El Comercio, Garcia reiterated that his government would unswervingly support the Chinese government on these issues and believed that China is capable of facing these challenges.

    Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen said Thursday that the Olympics is an opportunity for peace and reconciliation.

    Afghanistan opposes any attempts by individuals and organizations to use the Games as a tool for political appeals, Baheen added.

    Lativian Parliament member Ivan Klementev said the Olympics is not held for politicians and government officials, but a festival for the athletes who have made preparations for four years.

    The attempts by some politicians to politicize the Games and to boycott the event will never bring any positive results and can only sabotage the atmosphere of the great sports festival of the whole mankind, Klementev said.

    Other political figures who have voiced support for the Beijing Olympics and opposition to attempts to disrupt the Olympics torch relay include Shane Stone, former leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, Mike Moore, New Zealand's former prime minister and former director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Mohamed El Saket, former ambassador of the Arab League to China and Francesco Cossiga, former president of Italy.