Dalai Lama to give rights 'evidence' in Britain

DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) — The Dalai Lama will give "evidence" on human rights issues to a British parliamentary panel this month, his office said Wednesday, after repeated accusations of violations by China in Tibet.

The announcement came as the Dalai Lama prepared to leave later Wednesday on a tour of Germany, Britain, the United States, Australia and France.

The Tibetan spiritual leader's office in this northern Indian town announced that the British parliament's foreign affairs committee had made a request for the Dalai Lama to give "oral evidence" to lawmakers on rights issues.

The 1989 Nobel Peace prize winner will be in Britain for nine days beginning May 22.

His office said in a statement that the British panel was "focusing on issues and countries where human rights are of particular concern."

"Given the particular interest in China's human rights record in 2008, the committee has requested to take oral evidence from the Dalai Lama on a range of human rights issues," his office said.

"His Holiness has agreed to this request."

The Tibetan government-in-exile based in Dharamshala says 203 Tibetans were killed and 1,000 injured in Beijing's crackdown following anti-Chinese riots in March. Beijing says Tibetan "rioters" and "insurgents" killed 21 people.

The government-in-exile also said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown would hold talks with the Dalai Lama.

The Buddhist spiritual leader first flies to Germany, where he will speak on human rights issues two months after the violence erupted in the Tibetan capital Lhasa.

He will however not meet German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during his week-long stay while Chancellor Angela Merkel will be in Latin America, added the Dalai Lama's spokesman Tenzin Takla.

A meeting between Merkel and the Buddhist monk during his last trip to Germany in September 2007 chilled ties between Beijing and Berlin.