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Apr 17, 2008 7:00 am US/Eastern

15,000 Police Guard Olympic Torch Run In New Delhi

CBS News Timeline: Tibet Unrest

NEW DELHI (AP) ― The Olympic torch relay has begun in India amid heavy security, as about 15,000 police officers spread through the capital to try to keep protesters from disrupting the ceremony.

Much of New Delhi's leafy British colonial-era center - the administrative heart of India, home to the presidential palace, Parliament and government ministries - was blocked to traffic and pedestrians Thursday.

India is home to the world's largest Tibetan exile community, leading organizers and government officials to fear major protests. The torch's route was cut back because of those fears to less than two miles.

Authorities want to avoid the chaos that has marked the torch runs in London, Paris and San Francisco. They had reason to be worried - even the flame's late-night arrival at New Delhi's airport was met by small protests.

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: Indian policemen stand alert outside the Le Meriden Hotel where the Olympic Torch is being kept in New Delhi on April 17, 2008.
Raveendran/AFP/Getty Images