Dalai Lama opens 'compassion conference' in Seattle
Posted: 12 April 2008 0837 hrs

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SEATTLE : The Dalai Lama opened a conference on compassion here Friday, but avoided mentioning the situation in Tibet on his first foreign trip since China's crackdown in the Himalayan territory.

The exiled 72-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader spoke before a crowd of around 8,000 people at the University of Washington on the first day of the "Seeds of Compassion" conference.

The saffron-clad leader told a rapt audience that the purpose of the five-day conference was to promote peace and "fostering a society with a healthy mind."

"No one want problems, but problems happen due to our wrong views and wrong action," he said. "In the next few days, we are discussing about these things. It is a learning opportunity for all of us."

The only apparent reference to Tibet came from conference organizer Dan Kranzler, who remarked: "May I say personally, the world knows the truth ... The world knows."

Although conference officials have said the purpose of the Dalai Lama's visit is non-political, groups close to him have not ruled out meetings with US politicians and discussions during the trip.

The US House of Representatives and Senate on Wednesday passed separate resolutions condemning Beijing's actions in Tibet and calling on the Chinese government to begin a dialogue directly with the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, will leave Seattle Tuesday for conferences at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor from April 19-20 and at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, on April 22.

On a stopover at the Tokyo Narita airport on Thursday, he renewed his support for the Beijing Olympics in August and said he had urged the Tibetan community to respect the protest-plagued Olympic torch relay.

Tibet last month saw the biggest protests in years against China's controversial rule, on the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising that sent the Dalai Lama fleeing into exile in India.

Beijing has accused him of instigating the deadly violence and of seeking to split the province from China.

- AFP/ir