An Olympic flame on Everest's peak

BEIJING - An Olympic flame reached the top of the world today.

Live television footage showed a Chinese mountaineering team holding up a specially designed torch - separate from the main Olympic flame - along with Chinese and Olympic flags on the peak of Mount Everest.

"One World, One Dream," one climber said on the approach to the peak, repeating the slogan for the Olympics.

The 19-member team - which has both ethnic Han Chinese and Tibetan members and includes university students - broke camp before dawn and reached the top of the 29,035-foot mountain a little more than six hours later.

The climbers then all crowded together atop Everest and passed the torch among themselves.

Organizers of the Beijing Olympics hope the climb will underscore China's ambitions for the August Games.

Criticized from the outset because of China's often-harsh rule over Tibet, where Everest is located, the event drew more intense scrutiny after Tibetans across western China erupted in antigovernment protests in March.

Nonetheless, organizers hoped the dramatic image of the torch atop Everest would counter some of the damaging publicity from the uprising and protests during the international leg of the torch relay.

The Everest flame is separate from the main Olympic torch, which was on the opposite side of China yesterday, in Guangdong province.

The main flame will cross every region and province of China, returning to Beijing on Aug. 6, two days before the Games' opening ceremony.

The Everest leg has largely unfolded amid secrecy, in part to deter protesters who have criticized the event as symbolizing China's domination over Tibet.

Yesterday, China mounted fresh attacks on the Dalai Lama, with President Hu Jintao accusing the Tibetan spiritual leader of inciting violence and Chinese state media saying he was plotting the division of China. The criticism came even as Hu - at a summit with Japan's prime minister in Tokyo - vowed to push ahead with talks initiated this month between Beijing and representatives of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

"We hope that the Dalai will express his sincerity through his acts," Hu added. "We hope the Dalai will stop acting to separate the homeland, stop orchestrating the inciting of violent acts, and stop undermining the Beijing Olympics."

The Dalai Lama has denied such accusations, saying he is seeking greater autonomy for Tibet, not independence. He has also denied any involvement in the March protests.

At a news conference with Hu after their meeting, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda praised Hu's decisiveness and willingness to talk with the Dalai Lama's side.

But he had a warning.

"The Olympics must succeed," Fukuda said. "The world is watching."

The China Philharmonic

Orchestra performed

for Pope Benedict XVI

at Vatican City in a landmark concert yesterday that could indicate warming relations between Beijing and the Vatican.

Benedict called

the event "truly unique." He sat in an embroidered ivory velvet chair and listened intently to Mozart's

Requiem

, and applauded at the end.

"This is a glorious

moment that will be cherished long in our memories," conductor Yu Long said.

Ties between

the Vatican and China's communist government have been strained for decades. Beijing objects to the pope's tradition of naming his own bishops, calling it interference in China.

- Associated Press