Olympic torch lit at top of Everest

Members of the support crew for the Olympic torch - Reuters

The Olympic torch was lit at the top of Mount Everest today, the crowning moment of the Beijing Games torch relay which had been dogged by anti-Chinese protests on its world tour. Three months to the day before the Games open, members of a 31-strong team reached the top of the 8 848-m peak carrying the Olympic flame in a lantern before lighting the torch.

Weather had delayed the ascent for days. Security around the world's highest mountain, which sits astride the border of the Chinese region of Tibet and Nepal, was tight as China sought to prevent any demonstrations marring the spectacle. Anti-Chinese protesters caused serious disruption to some legs of the main torch relay on its journey around the world after the deadly March 14 riots in Lhasa and subsequent unrest in other Tibetan areas of China.

The climbing team, which included 22 Tibetans, eight Han Chinese and one man from the Tujia minority, had been on the mountain for more than a week preparing the route along the north-east ridge. Two days of snow at the weekend destroyed some of the roped paths and camps but by today the penultimate camp at 7 790 m was renovated and the climbers, three of whom are women, braced for the final push.

Beijing organisers paused the main torch relay, which is scheduled to pass through the southern city of Shenzhen yesterday, while the final push for the summit was taking place.

The Everest flame will be reunited with the main flame later in the relay, possibly when it passes through Lhasa in mid-June. - Reuters