Tibet's governor says 13 civilians killed, dozens wounded
Posted: 17 March 2008 1044 hrs

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BEIJING: China on Monday said Tibetan rioters killed 13 "innocent civilians" during violent protests against Chinese rule in Lhasa, as it denied using lethal force to quell the unrest.

"They either burned or hacked to death 13 innocent civilians," the chairman of Tibet's local government, Qiangba Puncog, told reporters, referring to violence in the Tibetan capital on Friday, raising an earlier toll of 10 dead reported by state media.

Tibetan exiles said on the weekend that 80 Tibetans had been confirmed killed, and that possibly more than 100 had died.

But Qiangba insisted Chinese security forces had not used lethal force or fired any gunshots, contradicting the accounts of foreign tourists who were in the city at the time.

"Throughout the process (security forces) did not carry or use any lethal weapons," the chairman of the local government in Tibet said.

"I can tell you as a responsible official that guns were absolutely not fired. The PLA (People's Liberation Army) was not involved at all in dealing with the incident."

He added that the PLA was only involved after the riots had taken place to clean up the city and help maintain order. - AFP/ac