“80 killed” in Tibet Protest Under China’s “rule of terror” — Tibetan Government In Exile

BBC News, Sunday, 16 March 2008-

At least 80 people have been killed in unrest following protests by Tibetans against Chinese rule, the Tibetan government in exile says.

Indian-based officials said the figure was confirmed by several sources, even though China put the death toll at 10.

The Dalai Lama called for an international inquiry into China’s crackdown, accusing it of a “rule of terror” and “cultural genocide”.

Chinese troops were out in force in Lhasa, Tibet’s main city, on Sunday.

Hong Kong Cable TV reported that about 200 military vehicles, each carrying 40 to 60 armed soldiers, had driven into the city.

Loudspeakers broadcast messages, such as: “Discern between enemies and friends, maintain order.”

China tightly restricts Western journalists’ access to Tibet and it is sometimes extremely difficult to verify what is going on.

Bodies

The BBC has learned that troops in neighbouring Sichuan province have been recalled from leave and put on standby.

A 23-year-old Canadian student in Lhasa told AP: “The entire city is basically closed down.”

The Chinese crackdown followed rioting on Friday, that erupted after a week of mainly peaceful protests.

The Chinese official news agency Xinhua says 10 people died on Friday, including business people it said were “burnt to death”.

But the Tibetan government in exile later said at least 80 corpses had been counted, including those of 26 people killed on Saturday next to the Dratchi prison in Lhasa.

Other bodies were spotted near the Ramoche Buddhist temple, and near a Muslim mosque and a cathedral in Lhasa, said Tenzin Taklha, a senior aide to the Dalai Lama.

“These reports come from relatives, from our people inside and from contacts of our department of security. They have all been confirmed multiple times,” he said.

Deadline to surrender

The demonstrators, who on Friday set fire to Chinese-owed shops and hurled rocks at local police, have been penned into an area of the old town by government forces.

The authorities in Tibet have urged the protesters to hand themselves in by midnight on Monday, promising leniency to those who surrender.

Meanwhile, there were reports of protests by Tibetans in other parts of China.

About 200 protesters threw petrol bombs and burned down a police station in Sichuan province, a police officer told Reuters.

There were reports that officers opened fire on the protesters. …… (more details from  BBC News: ‘Eighty killed’ in Tibetan unrest )