The Olympic flame went back to Asia on Monday in Mascat relay, lighting the night of Oman capital in the only stop of Arab world.

Grand celebration was held in Al Qurm National Park. Thousands of spectators cheered the lighting of cauldron and a great deal of firework was set off illuminating the sky.

Torchbearer Shihab Bin Tariq Al Sayyid runs with the Olympic torch during the torch relay in Muscat, Oman, April 14, 2008. Muscat is the ninth stop of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay outside the Chinese mainland.

Traditional Arabic dance of crutch and drum beating were staged in the celebration site amongst thundering cheers and screams.

The governer of Mascut province Sayyid Al-Mutassim bin Hamoud al-Busaidi and vice president of BOCOG Liu Jingmin delivered speech at the ceremony.

"It has a long history for the two countries to exchange trade and communications," said Liu.

"It's as early as eighth century, the 'silk road' and 'spice road' on the sea connected two peoples together. The ancient boat of Suhar pushed the trade relations and marked the long-standing friendship of the two countries."

The city relay started from Al Bustan, six kilometers east from Muscat, where the duplicate of ancient Suhar sailing boat is located.

The ancient Suhar boat had visited Guangzhou, China 1200 years ago, so starting from the "Suhar boat" duplicate marked a long connection and friendship between the two countries.

"The renewed Suhar visited Guangzhou, a southern city of China, in 80's of last century. It's a repeat of ancient pioneering navigation and it's a symbol marking long friendship between the two countries," said Fatik Bin Fahar, undersecretary of Ministry of Heritage & Culture, who was the day's second torch bearer.

Hundreds of pupils chanted "China, China" through the Sidab Street as a special way of greeting the Olympic flame.

The relay went through 20km, passing Sidab Harbour, Al Alam Palace, Muscat Gate Museum, Old Merchants Houses, Al Mina Rings to reach the celebration place Al Qurm Natural Park.

Sayyid Shihab bin Tareq al Said, advisor and cousin of Omani Sultan Qaboos bin Said, and former president of Oman Football Association.

"I am so proud to see Omani athletes are able to pass the torch of Olympic flame. I am so proud to see Muscat becomes the sole stopover of Olympic flame in the Arab countries," said Tariq.

"The Olympic Games is a widely shared festival for peoples from all around the world, which is inevitably promote intercommunion of different nations.

"The Olympic spirit will push forward the value of friendship and peace, closing the gap of different nations," he added.

The honor of lighting the cauldron was entitled to Macki Habib, vice president of Oman Olympic Committee.

Rahma Marhoon, an athlete for the Beijing Paralympics, was the only disabled torch bearer. "I don't know much about China in the past, but now I got a chance to visit China," said Marhoon.

"It's a good chance to learn about China. I believe the Beijing Olympic Games will be a great success. Each Olympic Games get progress from the last one, so it's the same for Beijing Games."

When asked about the relay disruption accident in London and Paris, Marhoon joked that she had to hold her torch firm. "It's quite safe here, I don't need to worry about that," she said.

Muscat is the capital and largest city of the Sultanate of Oman. It is the largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. The governorate of Muscat had an estimated population of 600,000. The greater metropolitan area of Muscat, also known locally as the "Capital Area", currently covers an area of approximately 1500 square kilometers.

Muscat is remarkably green, with tree-lined main streets linking the various districts, several sizable public parks, and grass, shrubs, and flowers decorating many traffic circles and other public areas.

The Olympic flame is leaving for Islamabad, Pakistan capital, on Tuesday for its 10th leg of global journey.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2008)