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SYDNEY: The Dalai Lama on Thursday appealed to Tibetans not to disturb the Olympic torch relay as it passes through the capital Lhasa, saying he fully supports the Beijing Olympics.
The torch is expected to pass through Tibet over the next week, although exact details of its schedule are being kept secret, following unrest in the province against Chinese rule in March.
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader said he did not want the torch to spark protests in Lhasa similar to those that erupted when the relay passed through London and Paris on its round-the-world journey.
"The Olympic Games we fully support, the Olympic torch is part of that," he told reporters in Sydney, where he is conducting a series of meditation seminars.
"Over a billion Chinese brothers and sisters feel very proud of it, we must respect this, therefore we should not disturb it."
Some groups critical of China's rule in Tibet have said taking the torch to the Himalayan region is an insult considering the massive Chinese security clampdown after the March unrest there.
Exiled Tibetan leaders say 203 people died in the crackdown, while China says it killed no one and that "rioters" were responsible for 21 deaths.
China has largely blamed the Dalai Lama for fomenting the unrest and accused him of seeking to sabotage the Olympic Games.
Despite such accusations, Beijing in early May restarted a dialogue with representatives of the Dalai Lama over the remote, Himalayan region.
China "peacefully liberated" Tibet in the early 1950s, which resulted in the Dalai Lama fleeing the region in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
In recent years, the Dalai Lama has renounced Tibetan independence and, while acknowledging that the region is a part of China, has urged greater political and religious autonomy for his homeland.
- AFP/so
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