Nepal police detain 100 Tibetan protesters
Posted: 31 March 2008 1505 hrs

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KATHMANDU: Nepalese police detained more than 100 Tibetan protesters outside a Chinese embassy building in Kathmandu on Monday as the exiles tried to demonstrate.

At least 200 police officers surrounded the building and carted off the protesters as they appeared in small groups in the capital, an AFP reporter witnessed.

"We don't know exactly how many we have detained, but it's more than 100," a police officer said on condition of anonymity.

Some of the protesters managed to sit down in front of the high-walled compound before being dragged into waiting police vans.

"The Dalai Lama should be allowed to live in Tibet. We want a free and peaceful Tibet," 36-year-old Tibetan exile Sonam Chugi told AFP.

Nepal is home to around 20,000 Tibetans who began arriving in large numbers in 1959 after a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.

Sandwiched between India and China, Nepal officially recognises its northern neighbour's 'One China" policy that counts Tibet as an integral part of China. - AFP/ac