BEIJING, April 3, 2008 (AFP) - China will reopen Lhasa to foreign tourists on May 1, officials said Thursday, after the Tibetan capital was sealed off following violent unrest there last month.

"The (communist) party committee of Tibet decided yesterday that Lhasa will reopen to tourists from May 1. Lhasa will be reopened to both domestic and foreign tourists," an official at the Tourism Bureau of Lhasa told AFP.

A statement on a Tibet government website confirmed that foreign tourists would be allowed back into Lhasa.

However it was not immediately clear whether all of the remote Himalayan region would be reopened.