Tibet officials vow strict security for torch

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will impose strict security on the Olympic Games torch relay through restive Tibet to Mount Everest, as the government seeks to prevent any protests upsetting the symbolic show of national unity.

The torch to light the flame of the 2008 Games will be lit in Greece on Monday and arrive in the host city Beijing on March 31 to start a relay that passes through a number of countries.

A separate flame will go to mountainous Tibet in an attempt to take it to the top of Everest at 8,848 meters (29,030 ft) above sea level on a day in May when the weather looks best.

But in mid-March, Tibetan areas were rocked by anti-Chinese protests and riots, killing 18 innocent civilians and a police officer in Tibet's regional capital, Lhasa, and four innocent civilians in nearby Sichuan province, according to the government. Exiled Tibetans say as many as 100 Tibetans died.

China has blamed the unrest on the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, alleging that he has conspired to wreck the country's Olympics. The Dalai Lama has rejected the conspiracy claim, saying he does not oppose Beijing's Games.

But overseas advocates of Tibetan independence who have denounced China's security crackdown have said they will seek to protest against the Beijing Olympics, and especially against the torch relay through Tibet.

On Sunday, an exiled Tibetan group urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to scrap the torch relay through the troubled region.

But the Tibet sports authority told an official newspaper on Monday that the Everest relay was sure to go ahead -- under strict security.

"The region torch relay leadership team will closely coordinate and cooperate with all concerned units, taking very seriously and cooperating with security and protection work, and strictly guarding against disturbances and sabotage by the Dalai clique," an official told the Tibet Daily.