NEPAL:Bearing the Olympic flame up Mount Everest was meant to be the highlight of the relay. But two days before the torch is lit in Ancient Olympia the gesture appears to have backfired.
The world's highest mountain straddles the border between Nepal and Tibet, where protests descended into riots last week.
China hoped the 85,000-mile torch relay - the longest in the history of the games - would kick off this year's Olympic razzmatazz. They described the journey through 134 cities and five continents as a "magnificent celebration of mankind", in the words of Beijing Olympics executive vice-president Jiang Xiaoyu. Instead, it risks becoming a journey of rancour and division.
Activists are pledging to demonstrate as the torch passes through Europe and the US; and Chinese authorities will have to mount a huge security presence along the 115-city domestic section. Officials have closed the north face of Everest, citing environmental concerns, and persuaded Nepal to block access.
Many believe they fear a repeat of last year's protest by five US mountaineers, who unfurled banners calling for Tibetan independence. Beijing has said that the games must not be "politicised".
Pro-Tibet groups argue that taking the flame through Tibet is a provocative act. Free Tibet is urging Coca-Cola, the relay's sponsors, to pull out or persuade the Chinese not to take the flame through Tibet. Coca-Cola did not respond to our calls. Free Tibet will protest along the 31-mile London section.
The flame will arrive from Greece on March 31st, to be welcomed in a grand ceremony in Tiananmen Square before a separate flame is taken to Everest.
The main relay will go around the world, returning for the Chinese leg in May. It will reach Beijing on August 6th. -