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Opening Ceremonies
Posted Friday, August 8, 2008
The Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing could be watched by more than a billion people around the world. More than 91-thousand fans, including President Bush, will be at Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium today to watch the two-hour Parade of Nations representing 205 national delegations. The U.S. flag will be carried in the parade by runner Lopez Lomong.
President Bush says he's proud to represent the United States at the Beijing games and has congratulated China for its advancements in art, literature, commerce and medicine. During dedication of the new U.S. embassy in Beijing the president said, quote, "America will continue to support China on the path toward a free economy."
An Islamist group has threatened an attack on the Olympic Games. The Terrorism monitoring firm IntelCenter says the Turkistan Islamic Party has asked Muslims for support and warns them to stay away from any places where the Chinese will be. In July, China denied claims by that group that it had orchestrated a series of bombings in the months leading up to the Olympics.
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