china claims dalai lama ready to foment violence and mount suicide attacks
This article appeared in the Guardian on Wednesday April 02 2008 on p17 of the International section. It was last updated at 00:31 on April 02 2008.
Nepalese police officers detain Tibetan exile protesters demonstrating against the alleged oppression by Chinese authorities. Photograph: Binod Joshi/AP
China accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters yesterday of plotting suicide attacks in the wake of last month's violent protests in Lhasa.
The allegation, which was denied by the Tibetan spiritual leader, came as security chiefs in Beijing claimed monks have been building up arsenals of weapons that could be used to escalate the conflict, which has already claimed at least 20 lives.
Wu Heping, a spokesman for the public security ministry, said police had searched monasteries and uncovered 176 guns, 13,013 bullets, 7,725 pounds of explosives, 19,000 sticks of dynamite and 350 knives.
"To our knowledge, the next plan of the Tibetan independence forces is to organise suicide squads to launch violent attacks," Wu told a news conference. "They claimed that they fear neither bloodshed nor sacrifice."
The Tibetan government in exile denied the accusation, saying it remained dedicated to nonviolent struggle.
"Again, the Chinese are trying to portray that we Tibetans are instigating violence and now they are talking about suicide squads, and we strongly deny these allegations," said Tenzin Taklha, a senior aide of the Dalai Lama.
He said Beijing should focus on why Tibetans feel resentful about Chinese rule, and engage in dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
Chinese security forces have launched major raids on a number of monasteries in eastern Tibet in recent days. One of those targeted was Kirti monastery in Ngaba county, where at least 23 peaceful protesters including children were killed in the middle of last month.
During the raids, scenes were staged and videotaped for use in later propaganda productions, according to reports received by the exile community. Chinese state-run media reports that many weapons have been seized, and these seizures are used to "prove" Dalai Lama's supporters' violent intentions. ::link to much more here
