The torch relay is aimed at showcasing China's rising economic and political power. Instead, protesters have used it as a backdrop for criticizing China for its March crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in Tibet and nearby provinces.
Rallies have also been held elsewhere to protest the crackdown. On Thursday, thousands of Tibetans carried 154 shrouded effigies in New Delhi representing those they say were killed last month in Tibet. Chinese authorities say 22 people died in the riots.
(See a photo of Tibetans protesting in India.)
China earlier this year banned mountaineering groups from getting permits to climb its side of Everest between March and June. It persuaded Nepal to enact a similar ban on the other side of the mountain.
The torch is to return to mainland China at the beginning of May and continue through dozens of Chinese cities, including Lhasa, in June. A side relay will take a second torch up Mount Everest in May.
Tibet's governor Champa Phuntsok said this week he had "no doubt" that Tibetan activists would seek to "create trouble" during the Tibet leg of the Olympic relay. China has repeatedly blamed the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader, and his supporters for fomenting the unrest.
On Thursday, the Dalai Lama said he supports China's hosting of the Olympics, but insisted nobody had the right to tell protesters demanding freedom for Tibet "to shut up."
