Several dozen Buddhist monks staged a brief protest in front of foreign reporters in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on Thursday, expressing support for the Dalai Lama.

Witness and media reports said monks at the Jokhang temple shouted down a Chinese official who was briefing a group of journalists allowed recently to Lhasa in the aftermath of unrest.

One of the journalists told AFP the monks called out: "We want the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet, we want to be free".

The protest was also reported by Japan's Kyodo news agency and other media orgnisations on the tour, while China's state-run Xinhua news agency carried a brief dispatch on it.

The incident looked likely to cause embarrassment for China, which brought the foreign media delegation to Lhasa on Wednesday for a three-day trip aimed partly at showing authorities had recent deadly unrest there under control.

Kyodo said about "30 young monks" were involved, while the journalist who spoke to AFP estimated the number to be between 50 and 60.

The monks also denied official Chinese claims that the Dalai Lama was behind the recent rioting in Lhasa, which later spilled into other areas of China.

China blames the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader for orchestrating the unrest.

The Jokhang temple, regarded as one of the most sacred sites for Tibetan Buddhists, is located in the heart of the old quarter of the city which was the scene of some of the worst violence during a day of rioting which followed four days of protests to mark the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. -AFP/sf