LONDON?A prominent IOC member apologized Wednesday for remarks casting doubt over the staging of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, saying he believes the Games should go ahead as planned.

Gerhard Heiberg of Norway stunned Olympic officials Tuesday when he was quoted in a Norwegian newspaper as saying, “A country at war can’t organize the Olympic Games.”

It was the first time an IOC official had publicly raised the possibility the Salt Lake Games might not take place as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks and subsequent U.S. military action in Afghanistan.

“My stand has been all the way through: Yes, we are going to have the games starting Feb. 8,” he said.