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BEIJING: The Beijing Olympic torch relay will make a one-day stop in Tibet on Saturday, passing through the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, the Olympic organising committee has confirmed.
"After the Sichuan earthquake on May 12, the Beijing Olympic organising committee has carried out adjustments to the domestic legs of the torch relay," the committee said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
"The Tibet Autonomous Region leg of the relay will be on June 21, with the relay taking place in Lhasa," it said.
State media reported earlier that China had scrapped its plans to take the torch through Tibet for three days due to the quake.
The Beijing News said earlier this week that it would be replaced by a trip of just one day Saturday, but officials had so far declined comment.
The torch is currently travelling through Xinjiang, a Muslim-majority region in China's northwest, for a three-day, four-city tour.
The stops in Xinjiang and the Tibetan regions of China are the most sensitive of the domestic route, which runs for thousands of miles (kilometres) over three months through every province and region of the country.
China accuses Muslim separatists in Xinjiang of plotting terrorist attacks on the Games and has stepped up security in the region ahead of the relay.
Tibetans are also accused of targeting the Olympics following a crackdown on anti-Chinese government unrest in Lhasa in March. - AFP/ac
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