INDIA/ CHINA: Tibet a challenge to world conscience says U.S.'s Pelosi; Tibetan protesters storm Chinese embassy in New Delhi
Record ID:
1375213
INDIA/ CHINA: Tibet a challenge to world conscience says U.S.'s Pelosi; Tibetan protesters storm Chinese embassy in New Delhi
- Title: INDIA/ CHINA: Tibet a challenge to world conscience says U.S.'s Pelosi; Tibetan protesters storm Chinese embassy in New Delhi
- Date: 21st March 2008
- Summary: (W2) BEIJING, CHINA (MARCH 21, 2008) (REUTERS) IMAGES OF SUSPECTS ON TIBET DAILY WEBSITE VARIOUS OF SUSPECTS
- Embargoed: 5th April 2008 13:54
- Keywords:
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVADYAP2NAIFFLDPXYK3D89RQD6C
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Tibet is a challenge to the world's conscience and calls for an international probe to clear the Dalai Lama's name in the violent protests this month. Dozens of pro-Tibet protesters have clashed with police after storming the Chinese embassy in Delhi. Protesters were arrested and taken away after scaling fences and demonstrating inside embassy grounds. China state media shows the riots which took place at Aba, Sichuan Province on March 16.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday (March 21) Tibet was a challenge to the world's conscience and called for an international probe to clear the Dalai Lama's name in the violent protests this month.
Pelosi said the free world will have lost its moral authority to speak about human rights if it did not speak up against Chinese oppression in Tibet.
China's crackdown on anti-government protests in Tibet -- which it says were orchestrated by the Dalai Lama -- has drawn sharp international criticism and clouded preparations for the Beijing Olympics.
The Tibetan spiritual leader has denied encouraging the violent protests in Tibet, the largest in almost 20 years, and has even offered to resign as Tibetan leader if violence worsens.
"The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world," Pelosi told a gathering of about 2000 Tibetans after meeting the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, the seat of his government-in-exile.
Hours after Pelosi met the Dalai Lama, about a dozen Tibetan protesters stormed the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, jumping over a spiked fence and then running around the high-security compound. They waved Tibetan flags and held up posters.
"Boycott 2008 Beijing Olympics," read one poster. Police and embassy staff soon overpowered the slogan-shouting Tibetans. A Reuters photographer said at least 60 protesters were taken away in police vehicles.
A Tibetan newspaper website showed wanted images of suspected Tibetans who took part in riots in Lhasa last Friday (March 14).
The Tibet Daily Web site (www.tibetdaily.net) published pictures of the most wanted suspects, many photographed in the thick of the rioting and including two men in monks' robes.
Most appeared to be young men. One looked to be wielding a sword while others were hurling rocks.
The site said that they would award those who offered information about individuals pictured, and said that the identity of those who helped would remain confidential.
Unrest in Tibet created shock waves in the nearby volatile region of Aba in the Sichuan province, one of four provinces with large Tibetan populations bordering the Himalayan region of Tibet.
State-run Chinese television showed footage of riots on March 16, including scenes of maroon-robed monks charging towards police, protesters kicking in shop fronts and plumes of smoke. About 100 paramilitary policemen were mobilised to guard the main government building.
Tibetans in the Sichuan province on Friday said they believe several people were killed in Aba when police fired on protesters.
China says 13 "innocent civilians" died in anti-Chinese riots last week in Tibet's capital, Lhasa, after police broke up earlier peaceful protests led by monks. The Tibetan government-in-exile says at least 99 protesters had been killed since the demonstrations started on March - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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