London - Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown will not attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in August, but a spokeswoman said Wednesday that he had never intended to go. A Downing Street spokeswoman said that Brown had always planned to attend the closing ceremony, long before the protests began against the Olympics torch bearers carrying the flame around the world, including in London and Paris.
Security was tight for San Francisco's leg of the public torch relay amid large anti-Beijing demonstrations, sparked by China's crackdown last month on Tibet rights protesters.
Brown still plans to attend the closing ceremonies, where Britain will accept the Olympic torch from China for the 2012 games in London, as was announced in March, the spokeswoman said.
She said that Browns' plans do not represent a boycott of the opening ceremony.
"Our reasons for going are exactly the came as they have always been. We still think it is the right thing to do. There is no change in our position," the spokeswoman said.
