GB will not boycott Olympics - PM

Sarkozy and Brown held talks at the Emirates Stadium

Great Britain will not boycott the Olympics in Beijing over China's actions in Tibet, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has confirmed.

"We will not be boycotting the Olympic Games. Britain will be attending the Olympic Games ceremonies," said Brown.

He was speaking at an Anglo-French summit at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has threatened to miss the opening ceremony and said he may review his decision dependent on events.

Brown added: "I think the main point that President Sarkozy made is the right one, that in the next few days and weeks, not only should we be calling for an end to violence, but calling for restraint on all sides."

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said he does not intend to go to the opening of the Olympics in August.

And Sarkozy plans to ask European Union leaders whether they want a boycott of the opening ceremony.

"At the time of the Olympics, I will be in the presidency of the European Union, so I have to sound out and consult my fellow members to see whether or not we should boycott," he said.

The ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic torch in Greece on Monday was briefly disrupted by pro-Tibet activists.

Jacques Rogge, the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has defended the decision to hold the Games in China, saying: "The major political leaders don't want a boycott."

China sent troops to Tibet in 1950 and since then there have been periods of unrest and sporadic uprisings as resentment of Beijing's rule has persisted.

The latest round of anti-China protests began in Tibet's main city, Lhasa, on 10 March - the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising - and gradually escalated.

Lhasa saw at least two days of violence and there have also been protests in provinces which border Tibet.