DAR ES SALAAM (AFP) - The Olympic torch, symbol of this year's 2008 Games in Beijing, arrived in the Tanzanian capital under tight security for a low-risk, albeit drastically curtailed outing on this sole African leg Sunday

The flame arrived here from the Argentinian city of Buenos Aires and was received at the city's Mwalimu Julius Nyerere International Airport by Dar es Salaam Mayor Adam Kimbisa.

While no known pro-Tibet rallies were planned in Dar es Salaam on Sunday, the planned 25-kilometre (15-mile) torch relay was reduced to a two-hour five-kilometre trail in the streets of the Tanzanian commercial capital.

Authorities in this city, sitting on the shores of the Indian Ocean, have nevertheless vowed to boost security along the relay road.

Kimbisa, the chief host, said the Sunday relay had been downsized "because there's a lot of rain" in the east African nation.

"Of course there could be two or three madmen who would seek to disrupt the relay," he admitted, speaking to AFP on Friday.

But "I would like to assure members of the public that there is no need to worry. We are in charge and we shall ensure that the Olympic torch relay in Tanzania is a success," said Kimbisa in a statement.

Security will be deployed "on high alert" mode along the relay route, said Dar es Salaam police chief Alfred Tibaigana.

Authorities said Dar es Salaam, the only African stop for the protest-plagued flame, "is determined to be the first city to host a trouble-free relay and will be looking to follow in the footsteps of Buenos Aires."

After stumbling through an obstacle course of pro-Tibet protests in recent days, controversy again preceded the flame's arrival in China-friendly Tanzania as the highest-profile member of the torch relay pulled out.

Kenya's Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai cited concerns over what she said was China's role in conflict and human rights violations in Tibet, Myanmar and the Sudanese region of Darfur for her no-show during the only African stop in the torch's journey to Beijing.

"I have decided to show solidarity with other people on the issues of human rights in Sudan's Darfur region, Tibet and Burma," she told AFP on Thursday.

Defending worldwide protests over Tibet, Maathai said: "They are having an impact. That is why we are hearing about them. I hope the world and China will hear their voice."

United Nations Under Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT Anna Tibaijuka, a Tanzanian, defended the relay as a symbol of peace and predicted the torch would have a smoother run on Sunday.

"I don't think that the same situation will happen here. Tanzanians are peace-loving people and they are eagerly waiting for such a beautiful symbol of the torch, which unites people of different religions, different ethnic origin, different political systems, cultures and languages," she said.

A statement from the Chinese embassy in Dar es Salaam also attempted to defuse any risk of the international outcry over Tibet reaching the coast of the Indian Ocean.

"We have noticed that the torch relay in some cities encountered disruptions ... But we believe that the Olympic torch relay is the journey of peace, friendship and harmony and it should not be subjected to political manoeuvre."

Tanzania, long a socialist country with close ties to the eastern Communist bloc, enjoys excellent relations with China since diplomatic ties were established in 1964.

Olympic officials in Beijing said Sunday world leaders wishing to deliver a snub to China over its crackdown in Tibet will hurt only their own athletes if they use the Beijing Games to make their point.

US President George W. Bush and other leaders have come under pressure from activists to boycott at least the opening ceremony of the August extravaganza to protest at issues including Tibet and China's human rights record.

Moreover, International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials and the Beijing Olympic organising committee point out, it is not the host country that sends out the invitations.

Invitations to heads of state or government to attend come from their own National Olympic Committees. So while a possible decision by French President Nicolas Sarkozy or others to skip the opening ceremony may disappoint China, it would effectively be a snub of athletes from their own country, Olympic officials said

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UN chief Ban Ki-moon are among those who have said they will not be present when China opens the Games on August 8.

However, they have insisted those plans were in place before the unrest in Tibet, with Sarkozy the only one linking attendance to whether Beijing opens dialogue with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said an opening ceremony boycott would perhaps hurt athletes, but nobody else.

"There are some politicians who talk of a boycott not of the Olympic Games, but of the opening ceremony," said Rogge, who was here last week for a series of meetings.

"I think the athletes would be disappointed because the athletes of a particular nation would not have their political leaders applauding them," he added.

China's hopes of winning international prestige by sending the torch through 135 cities on five continents ahead of the August 8 opening of the Olympic Games have already been damaged.

The early stages in London and Paris were overshadowed by demonstrations against Beijing's repression of protests in Tibet, and the third stage in San Francisco was also drastically curtailed and seen by relatively few people.

The following relay in Buenos Aires passed off with little incident.