it through the streets, but it soon had to be extinguished again.

After this had happened for a fourth time, and with the procession hopelessly behind schedule, police decided not to go ahead with its second section.

Instead, the torch was again loaded onto a bus and driven to the stadium, arriving at around 5.30pm local time (1630 BST).

By the time the relay was abandoned, a planned ceremony to greet the torch outside the French capital's city hall had already been cancelled as members of the Green party hung a giant Tibetan flag from the building.

Despite the huge security presence, at least two activists got within little more than an arm's length of the torch before being stopped.

One protester threw water at it, but failed to extinguish the flame andwas carried away.

Police grappled many other demonstrators to the ground, using tear gas to disperse those blocking the relay's route. They said 28 people were arrested.

While the turbulent scenes were a blow for the Beijing organisers, the Olympic flame remained alight at all times in an enclosed lantern used to preserve it on planes and overnight during the 85,000-mile journey from Olympia, in Greece, to China.

Wang Hui, the media head for the Beijing Olympics organising committee, today condemned what she called a "few separatists" involved in the protests, insisting the relay would continue as planned.

"The smooth progress of the torch relay cannot be stopped and will definitely be a big success," she added.

The flame was more heavily guarded than it had been in London. It was barely visible