Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown “ruled out a boycott of the Beijing Olympics” saying that “the Dalai Lama himself has said that he does not want to see a boycott.” But the BBC is reporting today that now Brown has said will not attend the opening ceremony but is “not boycotting the Olympics and planned to attend the closing ceremony.” Just last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel “became the first world leader to decide not to attend the Olympics in Beijing.” While President Bush has said definitively that he will attend the games, White House press secretary Dana Perino yesterday left the door open to the possibility that he will also skip the opening ceremony.
Update
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister has said Brown “never planned to attend” the opening ceremony. “There is absolutely no change in our position.”
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