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Brown to skip Olympic opening
09/04/2008 23:22 - (SA)
London - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will not attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
His Downing Street office said Brown was not boycotting the Olympics and would attend the closing ceremony.
Brown has been under intense pressure from human rights campaigners to skip the opening ceremony on August 8 to protest Beijing's ongoing crackdown in Tibet.
Brown's decision not to attend the opening ceremony was not aimed at sending a message of protest to the Chinese government, the spokesperson said on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.
She said the decision had been made weeks ago and was not a stand on principle.
"He had never planned to attend," she said. "There is absolutely no change in our position."
Last month, Brown said he did plan to attend the games, while visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was debating not attending the opening ceremony.
London is hosting the next Olympics in 2012 and British officials were expected to attend events throughout the games.
Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell will represent the British government at the opening of the Beijing games.
- AP
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