Nepal Reopens Everest After Torch Relay

Nepal reopened Mount Everest today after closing the world's highest peak off to climbers for fear of demonstrations during the Chinese Olympic torch rally, while the Dalai Lama's representatives played down hopes of a breakthrough following talks with Beijing.

Hundreds of climbers have been waiting at Everest base camp since May 1 for the Chinese to complete their torch relay on the mountain. Pictures were beamed around the world showing the group, including a Tibetan climber, holding the torch aloft on the world's highest point.

The triumphal scenes contrasted with a downbeat assessment from the envoys of Tibet's spiritual leaders who had returned earlier this week from talks with Chinese officials in the southern city of Shenzhen.

Lodi Gyari, a special envoy for the Dalai Lama, told reporters in the Indian hill station of Dharamsala that the two sides had "disagreed more than we agreed ... Our counterparts again made baseless allegations against the Dalai Lama for derailing and sabotaging the Beijing Olympics. But we made it very clear that the Dalai Lama supported the Olympics from day one."

Beijing has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of using his spiritual reach to provoke anti-government protests in Tibet - an allegation his office denies. The talks were seen by some as a climbdown by the Chinese government which had gone on the offensive calling the Dalai Lama "a devil" and "a wolf".

Talks would continue however. Acknowledging "major differences", Gyari said that both sides had reached "an understanding" to continue with "formal rounds of discussions".

The envoys said that they had asked for people detained following the March unrest to be released and for Beijing to allow visitors, including journalists, into Tibet. The Himalayan plateau has been off limits to foreigners since the recent violence broke out.

Gyari also revealed that he had pressed his Chinese counterparts to end the "patriotic re-education" campaign in TIbet, where monks are forced to denounce the Dalai Lama. There has been no word from Beijing since the talks ended.

The Dalai Lama fled China in 1959 after leading a failed insurrection and was allowed to remain in India, setting up a government-in-exile. Although he once advocated independence and Tibetan exiles raised a small guerrilla force with help of the CIA, the Tibetan spiritual leader has for decades advocated a "middle path" essentially asking for greater autonomy for Tibet within China.

Within India there has been a groundswell of support for the Dalai Lama since the unrest started although some commentators have questioned whether Tibetan exiles should remain in the country.

Barun Roy, a respected Indian columnist on Asian affairs wrote recently that, "[India] can't have refugees in perpetuity ... either [they should] move on to another refugee-friendly country or to merge with the native population and earn equal democratic rights ... But [Tibetan exiles] won't give up their isolated existence, their separate identity, and the special government-in-exile that looks after their own affairs. That's not fair."