India stops exiles from marching to protest Olympics

INDIA: Indian police barred several hundred Tibetan exiles from marching to Tibet to protest Beijing hosting this summer's Olympic Games, as Tibetans commemorated their 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.

Protesters also held demonstrations Monday in New Delhi and Katmandu, Nepal, where hundreds of activists clashed with police. In Lhasa, Tibet, as many as 300 monks marched in the city center to mark the anniversary of the uprising, and Chinese authorites detained 50 to 60 monks, reported Radio Free Asia, a private broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress.

Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, speaking at a separate event in India, accused China of "unimaginable and gross violations of human rights" in the Himalayan region.

The planned six-month march from India to Tibet began Monday to coincide with the anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet that forced the Dalai Lama into exile in 1959. Dharmsala, Tuesday, AP