US
(2007-07-27)
LHASA, TIBET
(Associated Press) -
Tibet is holding off on plans to build a highway on the side of Mount Everest to ease the Olympic torch's journey to its peak.
The nearly 20 million-dollar project would have paved a rough path that snakes 67 miles from the foot of the mountain to a base camp at more than 17-thousand feet.
A Tibetan foreign affairs official says the paved road project is on hold. He has refused to give a reason for the delay.
An official with Tibet's Environmental Protection Bureau says workers are filling holes and repairing sections of the existing dirt and stone road, built in 1978.
In April, organizers for the Beijing Summer Olympics announced ambitious plans for the longest torch relay in Olympic history. The 85-thousand-mile, 130-day route would cross five continents and reach the summit of Everest, the world's highest peak.
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