China shortens torch relay's Tibet leg

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

BEIJING (AFP) — The Olympic torch's passage next month through strife-torn Tibet will be cut from three days to one as part of route changes made necessary by China's earthquake, Beijing Games organisers said Sunday.

"The change is due to the Sichuan earthquake's impact on the rest of the relay. Because of this, the sacred flame will only pass through (the Tibetan capital) Lhasa for one day," Li Lizhi, an information officer with the Beijing Olympics, told AFP.

The Olympic torch had been scheduled to transit a district south of Lhasa on June 19 before spending the following two days in the Tibetan capital, where fierce rioting against Chinese rule erupted in March.

However, the torch's Tibet leg will now be cut to a one-day passage through Lhasa, Li said....