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BEIJING - A top Tibetan official said the monks who protested to visiting foreign reporters over China's crackdown of unrest in the region will not be punished, state media reported early Friday.
Several dozen monks voiced their concerns at Beijing's handling of the protests and made clear their support for their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama as 26 journalists visited the Jokhang temple in Lhasa, one of Tibetan Buddhism's most sacred.
But after several minutes, the foreign reporters were ushered from the temple by their Chinese minders.
Later, Xinhua news agency reported that officials said none of the monks would face reprisals.
But it also quoted Baema Chilain, vice chairman of the regional government at a press conference to domestic and overseas media, as saying: "What they said is not true.
"They were attempting to mislead the world's opinion. The facts shouldn't be distorted."
The protest came as China again refused to hold talks with the Dalai Lama, despite US President George W. Bush adding his voice to calls for dialogue.
The delegation had been taken to Lhasa on Wednesday for a three-day trip following international pressure to allow independent reporting from the Tibetan capital, after it was sealed off due to the unrest.
The protests began in Lhasa on March 10 to mark the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule in the region. They erupted into widespread rioting on March 14, and spread to neighbouring Chinese provinces populated by Tibetans.
China says rioters killed 18 innocent civilians and two police officers, while exiled Tibetan leaders have put the death toll from the Chinese crackdown at between 135 and 140, with another 1,000 people injured and many detained.
Beijing insists its response to the protests has been restrained and that it has brought the situation under control.
- AFP /ls
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