300 Tibetan protesters arrested in Nepal: Police

Saturday,09 August 2008

KATHMANDU (AFP) — Nepal police on Saturday said they detained at least 300 Tibetan protesters in the capital who were seeking to draw some of the spotlight away from the Beijing Olympics.

Police arrest a Tibetan protester near the Chinese consular office in Kathmandu August 9, 2008. Tibetans living in Kathmandu are trying to storm the consular office in protest against Chinese actions in Tibet. REUTERS/Deepa Shreshta (NEPAL)

The protesters, many of them nuns and monks, waved flags of the Tibetan government-in-exile and screamed "Liar China, Leave Tibet" and "We want freedom and peace in Tibet".

Riot police blocked the protesters as they tried to run towards the main gate of the Chinese embassy and bundled them into vans and trucks after brief tussles.

"We'd like to take this opportunity of Olympic Games going on in Beijing to divert the attention of the world regarding the crisis of Tibetans in China," Oogen Lama, 35, said as he was being hustled into a police van.

Exiled Tibetans have been protesting daily after deadly unrest erupted against Chinese rule in the Himalayan region in March.

On Friday, when the Olympics opening ceremony was held in Beijing, police here said they arrested about 1,400 Tibetans protesting near Chinese embassy buildings.

It was the largest number of protesters detained in one day since the protests began in March, police said.

Kathmandu has said no anti-China activity will be allowed as it seeks to preserve friendly ties with its giant northern neighbour.

Nepalese policemen baton charge Tibetan activists while they write "Free Tibet" on a wall of the consular section of the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu on August 9, 2008. Police detained more than 300 Tibetan protesters who had gathered outside a building housing China's consular and trade offices. (AFP/Getty Images)

Nepal is home to 20,000 exiled Tibetans, who began arriving in 1959 after Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled his homeland following a failed anti-Chinese uprising.

Many have gone on to the northern Indian town of Dharamshala, where the Dalai Lama is based.