Against Today

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

Tibet monks held over 'bomb plot'


The Dalai Lama's followers believe 140 people have 
died in Tibet uprising
China has arrested nine Tibetan Buddhist monks who 
have been accused of a bomb attack, according to 
the official Xinhua news agency.
Chinese officials said the monks' homemade bomb 
exploded in a government building in eastern Tibet 
on 23 March.
Xinhua news agency did not explain why the alleged 
bomb incident was not reported at the time.
News of the arrests came as Beijing continued to 
attack overseas critics of its crackdown in the 
Himalayan region.
Xinhua said the monks confessed to planting the 
explosive in Gyanbe township.
Beijing's claims that the recent Tibetan protests were 
part of a violent campaign by the Dalai Lama, the 
region's exiled spiritual leader, to disrupt Chinese 
rule in Tibet and sabotage the Beijing Olympics in 
August.
Bombing unreported
The alleged bombing is the first to be reported in 
Tibet since the anti-China protests began 10 March 
in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.
After China's crackdown, demonstrations by pro-
Tibet activists - and other groups critical of Beijing's 
human rights record - have haunted the Olympic
torch relay in London, Paris and San Francisco this 
month, stirring anger in China.
Chinese President Hu Jintao took a hard line Saturday, 
saying the problems in Tibet were a purely internal 
affair directly threatening Chinese sovereignty.
The Dalai Lama has denied involvement in violent 
acts and says he only wants greater autonomy for 
the remote mountain region.
He has also expressed opposition to a boycott of the 
Olympic Games. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7344984.stm