Lhasa Police says most Tibetan riot victims still alive

[Nanda]

Monday 7th April, 2008
ANI Monday 7th April, 2008

New Delhi, Apr.7 : Police in Tibetan capital Lhasa have claimed that the list of Tibetan rioters declared dead by the "Dalai Clique" is fabricated, saying that most of those named are still alive.

According to reports appearing in The China Daily and the official Xinhua news agency, an investigation by Lhasa police found five of the 40 people declared dead on March 25 to be alive, or people who had never existed.

The other 35 people, whom the clique merely mentioned the birthplaces or residences of as "Lhasa, Tibet" or "Aba, Sichuan province" were impossible to locate, the police said.

The Dalai clique had announced the death of 31-year-old Lobsang Tsepel in Sera Monastery. However, a police investigation found the monk, 36, was still in the monastery.

The investigation found there were 12 people whose names include Ngodup at Tibet University, and all of them were alive and still working there. The Dalai clique had said a 28-year-old by that name had been killed in the unrest.

Also, Lobsang Doma, of the Garu Nunnery, was age 39 and alive - not 23 and dead, as the Dalai clique had claimed.

There was nobody named Rigzin Choenyi in the Shugseb Nunnery, while the nunnery has two people whose names included only the Rigzin part, and both were alive.

Also, there was nobody named Ngawang Thekchen in Taklung Drak Monastery, the investigation found.

Meanwhile, Tibet autonomous region's government held a meeting on Saturday to prepare for the Olympic torch relay's leg across the "roof of the world".

Tibet's Party chief Zhang Qingli, however, warned of the grave challenges are still ahead.

He urged all relevant departments to spare no efforts in preparing for the relay to guard against any possible incidents.

The Beijing Olympic flame's global relay officially started from Beijing's Tian'anmen Square on April 1.

And this year, the Olympic torch would for the first time be taken to the peak of Mount Qomolangma (Everest).