FACTBOX: The Olympic torch: peace, fraternity and...controversy

(Reuters) - China has said there are no plans to change the Olympic torch's two scheduled visits to Tibet, where anti-China protests turned violent in the capital Lhasa in mid-March.

After the flame arrives in Beijing on March 31, a second torch will be lit from it and brought to Tibet, where Chinese climbers will attempt to take it to the top of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, in May.

Here are some facts about the Olympic torch relay, and past and present controversies.

HISTORY OF THE FLAME:

* Flame races were run in ancient Athens to honor deities including Prometheus, who, legend has it, stole fire from the gods and brought wisdom and knowledge to humankind.

* A fire was kept burning at ancient Olympics to honor the sun god Zeus; but such races were not organized for the Panhellenic Games (four separate sports festivals of which the four-yearly Olympics were one).

* Fire first reappeared at the modern Olympics in Amsterdam in 1928, when a flame was built into an Olympic stadium tower. It was seen as a symbolic link between old and new games.

MODERN TORCH RELAYS:

* Foot races with torches were run at the 1894 international congress in Paris which decided to re-establish the Games.  Continued...