Nepalese authorities say they will use force, including guns, to quell any protests during the carrying of the Olympic torch up Everest.
A special lookout post will be constructed at 6,700m (22,000ft), above base camp, which will be manned by police and soldiers. No climbers will be allowed higher than 7,500m (24,600ft) until after 10 May, when the Chinese torch party is expected to summit.
Everest from Nepal
Although the Olympic torch ascent of the world’s highest mountain will be made from the northern, Tibet side, authorities in Nepal, on the south side of the peak, are keen not to sour relations with the Chinese regime, which controls Tibet.
Eccentric English explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who is due to tackle Everest for the second time after suffering a heart attack during his first attempt, is now likely to stay at base camp until the 10 May deadline has passed.
Extra troops have been posted in the area following the series of demonstrations in countries across the globe as the torch has made its tour. Most of the protests centre on human-rights abuses by the Chinese authorities and the continued occupation of Tibet, which first occurred in 1950.
The success of Maoists in the recent Nepal elections is likely to mean a further rapprochement between the regimes in Kathmandu and Beijing.
The Chinese authorities have also completed an asphalt road to the base of Everest on the northern side, to aid the progress of the torch party and encourage tourism in the area.
The Olympic torch is currently in Malaysia
Guest
21 April 2008"Chinese ...... continued occupation of Tibet, which first occurred in 1950"? Come on, tell reader something of true Tibet history. Don't forget to mention the continued occupation of Northern Ireland by you.
Guest
21 April 2008At least the British Army didn't knock down all of the churches in Ulster and kill hundreds of priests. The British continued but didn't start the troubles, it was Irish traitors who invited the English in to settle tribal scores, before them the Vikings, and before them the leprechauns fighting with the fairies! King Alfred and other English Kings had to repel Irish raiders and the Danes took over the North of England; many still live there today. Tibet is an example to other countries how brutal destruction by tyrants cannot totally quell the spirit of freedom. When the Chinese eventually leave Tibet, I hope the British will have left Iraq and Afghanistan. Oh yes, the Vikings also invaded Russia.
pctjohnbadger
22 April 2008Does this statement by Nepal remind you of the time when the Nepalese routed the Kampa tribesmen, from Tibet who, after the CIA withdrew their funding and training, withdrew from their Tibetan homeland to Nepal and conducted a guerilla warfare campaign against the Chinese - until the Chinese pressured the Nepalese into wiping them out? Why are the Nepalese being left so isolated by the international community that they have to bow to brutal Chinese pressure?