Beijing, April 24: Tibetan authorities warned today that there would be severe consequences for anyone who spreads rumours that “excite popular feeling”, as the region braces for the arrival of the Olympic torch sometime in the next couple of weeks.

“We will severely root out and give no indulgence to people with ulterior motives who spread rumours or excite popular feelings,” the Tibetan government said in a notice posted on its website.

Chinese officials are sticking to a controversial plan for torchbearers to bring the Olympic flame over the top of Mount Everest and into downtown Lhasa, the scene of a deadly riot against Chinese rule last month. Reports of scattered protests continue to seep out of Tibet, even though armed police have flooded the area, searching monasteries and houses and sometimes confiscating cellphones and computers, exile groups say.

Local government officials are under pressure to ensure a smooth running of the torch and are tightening an already strict security regimen in the area. Selected foreign media will be allowed to accompany the torch onto Mount Everest and into Lhasa, though government officials have this week been trying to reduce the length of time reporters will be permitted in the region. The last time foreign journalists were allowed in Lhasa, a group of monks disrupted a government-planned itinerary and told the reporters that they were being repressed.