Vancouver braced for anti-Games protests

RELATED NEWS Vancouver counts the cost of high security Dream comes true for blind skier McKeever British ski team will compete in Vancouver

Protesters opposing the Vancouver Olympics are expected to demonstrate this week but will pose no threat to the Games, organisers said on Monday.

"We expect that protests may occur," Games deputy CEO Dave Cobb told reporters, adding that initial estimates of demonstrations were larger than they were now expected to be.

"Security forces are ready to react in case they break the law," Cobb said, after briefing the International Olympic Committee on Games preparations.

The Olympics have become a rallying point for a range of social groups planning their own "convergence" in Vancouver to protest against what they say is corporate greed and injustice the Olympic movement has come to symbolise.

Opponents in Vancouver lost a referendum over the Games in 2003 when the city was still bidding for them with local critics saying the money spent on the Games would have been better spent resolving social problems such as poverty and homelessness.

There are also claims the event is being partly held on land that belongs to Canada's aboriginal people.

Olympic organisers (VANOC) say Vancouver's poor will benefit through local redevelopment and other spinoff economic opportunities, while local aboriginal groups are supporting the event as co-hosts. The Games begin on Feb. 12.

"We have to accept the protests," IOC Vice President Thomas Bach told Reuters. "They (VANOC) reported today that some groups in the city are considering to protest but it I do not think they will be big protests and they are not a concern for us."

"It is their right to express their opinions and we welcome it but the protest must remain within the framework of not affecting the opening ceremony and the Games."