Uncertainty looms over Olympic torch relay through Mohawk community

Uncertainty over the Olympic torch's scheduled visit today to the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, Que., has risen to the highest levels of the RCMP. Senior brass at the national police force have been asked to approve a deal worked out by lower levels of the RCMP, and as of yesterday afternoon, a final decision still hadn't been made on the deal. According to the arrangement, RCMP officers escorting the Olympic torch relay across Canada would let local Kahnawake Peacekeepers take over from them during the relay's 20-minute visit through Kahnawake at about noon today. Political opposition to an RCMP escort presence in Kahnawake was organized by the local traditional longhouse form of government on the Mohawk territory, known as the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake. The best-known of several torchbearers scheduled to carry the flame through Kahnawake today is Alwyn Morris -- the Mohawk sprint canoer who won gold and bronze medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olmypics.