Media coverage of Everest torch departure cancelled

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has cancelled media access to the departure of the Beijing Olympic torch from Everest North Base Camp before an attempt is made to take it to the top of the world's highest mountain early next month.

Non-Chinese media approved to report on the attempt to take the torch up Everest were told on Tuesday, the day of their scheduled departure, that the trip had been postponed and partly cancelled.

The Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) said unsuitable weather in the Himalayan region of Tibet had forced them to put the trip back until Saturday at the earliest.

Officials also said the media would no longer be at North Base Camp when the climbing party left with the torch for the summit.

"It has been cancelled for both Chinese and international media," Shao Shiwei, deputy director of BOCOG media department, told a briefing.

Instead, the media will leave Beijing at the same time as the torch leaves Base Camp and go straight to Everest via the Tibetan capital Lhasa on a journey that would take them from 54 metres to 5,360 m above sea level in three days.

BOCOG spokeswoman Wang Hui denied the the change in plans had anything to do with the recent unrest in Tibetan areas, which started with deadly riots in Lhasa on March 14.

"This is not the case," she told a media briefing. "This is not about Tibet ... we have tried our best to make the best arrangements for you, this is all because of the uncertain weather conditions.

Shao said the changes had been made to avoid media having to spend long periods at Base Camp before the attempt on the summit of Everest.