The sacred flame of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on early Monday arrived in the Omani capital of Muscat, the ninth leg of a global torch relay.

Liu Jingmin, executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), holds the lantern of the flame with Omani Minister of Sports Affairs and Chairman of the Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy. (Photo: BOCOG)

A chartered plane carrying the flame landed on Muscat international airport at local time 5:30 AM (0130 GMT) from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Liu Jingmin, executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), carried the lantern of the flame and walked off the plane.

Upon arrival at the airport, Liu and the flame received a warm welcome by senior Omani officials including Omani Minister of Sports Affairs and Chairman of the Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy and Habib Macki, vice chairman of the OOC.

Chinese ambassador to Oman Pan Weifang also came to the airport to welcome the flame of the Beijing Olympics, which is scheduled to be held this August.

At a press conference on Saturday, Macki said his country is ready for the upcoming Beijing Olympic torch relay here on Monday.

Macki briefed the preparation works for the torch relay in Muscat, saying it's a great honor for Oman to hold this event and all sides concerned have been exerting efforts to render the torch relay a success.

He stressed that the organizers have taken tight measures to secure the process of the torch relay, voicing his confidence that the event in Muscat will be successful.

According to the plan, the torch relay here will kick off at local time 5:00 PM (1300 GMT) on Monday, with a route of some 20 km stretched from Al Bustan roundabout in the southeastern part of the coast city to Al Qurm Natural Park in central Muscat.

The sacred flame is expected to leave for Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 15.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2008)