Chinese officials have confirmed that the controversial Tibet leg of the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay has been postponed.

BeijingOlympic officials previously announced a delay in the torch relaythrough Sichuan province after the area was hit by a powerfulearthquake May 12.  But now officials confirm additional changes in theroute.  No official reason has been given.

The flame originallywas scheduled to travel to Tibet after the Chongqing relay, which isfinishing Monday.  Instead, the new schedule makes the Xinjiang UighurAutonomous Region the next stop, followed by Tibet and Qinghai.  

Media reports say the Tibet leg also has been shortened and may be limited to the capital, Lhasa.

Some Tibetan exiles and human rights activists have called on China to cancel the Tibet relay.

Afterlast month's earthquake, officials decided to postpone the Sichuan legof the relay until August and skip the worst affected areas of theprovince.

Tibetans in Sichuan joined with Tibetan communitiesin nearby provinces in several weeks of demonstrations earlier thisyear.  There are unconfirmed reports that scattered Tibetan protestscontinue.

The main torch relay already has visited Tibetan areasin Yunnan province.  A separate relay took the flame to the top ofMount Everest on the Tibet-Nepal border.