Nepal soldiers guard Everest for Olympic torch run

Nepal has deployed two dozen soldiers and armed police at the base camp of Mount Everest to stop Tibetan protesters when the Olympic torch is taken to the top of the world next month, an official said on Sunday.

 

Beijing, the host of the Summer Games, has not given any date for the torch run to the 8,850 metre (29,035 feet) peak but Nepali officials say it is expected between May 1 and 10.

 

Nepal has also restricted climbers to Mount Everest from going above camp two during the period to ensure that pro-Tibet climbers don't protest and the torch run passes off smoothly.

 

"Soldiers and police personnel have already taken up their positions and we have made special security arrangement to avoid trouble," Home (interior) Ministry spokesman, Modraj Dotel, said.

 

"If any one creates trouble, the security personnel will first try to convince them through talks," he said.

 

"They have been ordered to use force if necessary," he said.

 

Exiled Tibetans have been regularly protesting in Kathmandu since last month against the Chinese crackdown on pro-independence protests in the Himalayan region last month.

 

On Friday maroon-robed monks and nuns with shaved heads scuffled with police at a pro-Tibet demonstration in the capital, and authorities said they had detained 130 people.

 

More than 20,000 Tibetans have been living in Nepal since fleeing their homeland after the failed uprising against the Chinese rule in 1959.

 

Impoverished Nepal considers Tibet as part of China, an important donor and trade partner. (Reuters)