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Pyongyang: Thousands of spectators some waiving Chinese flags watched the start of the Olympic torch relay in Pyongyang on Monday, the first-ever run through North Korea.
The North, an ally of its communist neighbour China, has been critical of disruptions to the torch relay elsewhere and has supported Beijing in its crackdown against violent protests in Tibet.
On Sunday, clashes broke out in Seoul near the start of the relay leg between Chinese supporters and anti-China demonstrators. One North Korean defector poured gasoline on himself in the middle of a street along the route and tried to set himself on fire, but police quickly surrounded him and carried him away.
The man, 45-year-old Son Jong Hoon, had led an unsuccessful public campaign to save his brother from execution in the North, where he was accused of spying after the two met secretly in China.
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