Nepal lifts ban on Everest summit

Everest base camp is teeming with frustrated mountaineers

Nepal has reopened the summit of Mount Everest to climbers on its side after a Chinese team carried the Olympic flame to the world's highest peak.

Scores of mountaineers at Everest base camp are now resuming their ascent, Nepal's Tourism Ministry told the BBC.

Nepal blocked access to the summit in March amid Chinese fears that Tibetan activists might stage a protest.

Demonstrations against Chinese rule in Tibet have followed the torch around the world in recent weeks.

'Set off'

"Mountaineers are allowed to move towards the summit from today [Thursday]," Nepal's tourism ministry spokesman Prem Rai told the BBC.

We are extremely relieved that the Olympic flame has reached the summit Ang Tsering Sherpa, Nepal Mountaineering Association

"There are 29 groups of climbers and each group has nine members and some of them have already set off."

Mr Rai dismissed reports that armed soldiers would remain on Everest throughout the spring climbing season. He said security personnel would leave the area on 10 May.

"Liaison officers" will continue to carry out security checks on climbers' baggage, he said.

The president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Ang Tsering Sherpa, welcomed the lifting of the ban.

"We are extremely relieved that the Olympic flame has reached the summit. All of us mountaineers were very worried that we would not have enough time," he told AFP.

"We have told all the members of our expedition team of the importance of not protesting at the summit.

"Protests may happen because we can't be sure people won't protest out of their own interest," he added.

Anger

Large-scale Tibetan protests have been held over the past few weeks against Chinese rule as Beijing gets ready to host the Olympics in August.

Demonstrators tried to storm the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu

Buddhist monks have been demonstrating in and around Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. Tibetans living in exile in Nepal and India have also held weeks of protests.

On Thursday, there were more angry scenes outside the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu as demonstrators tried to break through a security cordon. A number were detained.

Many Tibetans want independence from China, which has long claimed the mountainous territory as its own.

Mount Everest straddles the border between Nepal and China and can be scaled by a northern and a southern route.

The more popular southern route passes through Nepal, while the northern ascent goes through Tibet.