LHASA (Tibet), June 21: Hand-picked spectators cheered runners as the Olympic torch relay passed through Tibet’s capital Lhasa on Saturday, just three months after deadly riots against China’s rule here.

Paramilitary police watched the event closely from the ground and surrounding buildings, while the area was closed off to all but those given special passes for the event.

Students and employees of state-owned companies were among those chosen to cheer the torch as it passed through the city before ending in front of the Potala Palace, former chief residence of exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama.

Tibetan singer Caidan Zhuoma took the torch to the palace before it was combined with the special flame that was carried up the Tibetan side of Mount Everest.

Rights groups, meanwhile, insisted that China was irresponsible for allowing the flame to visit the region. But the carefully-staged relay leg ended apparently without incident after less than two hours, instead of the scheduled three, with no reason given for the change.

Many locals were told to stay at home, and shops along the relay route in the remote, Himalayan city were closed to the public.

“We are not supposed to leave the hotel to watch the relay, so we are staying inside,” said an employee at the Tibet International Grand Hotel.

A taxi driver said he had received instructions from his company over the cab radio that a curfew had been imposed along the relay route on Saturday.

“This torch relay was not interesting, as they didn’t let people come out,” he said.

Pro-Tibet activists argued that the leg should have been cancelled in the wake of the unrest there in March.

Exiled Tibetan leaders say 203 people died in the clampdown, while China has reported killing one Tibetan “insurgent” and says “rioters” were responsible for 21 deaths.— AFP