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<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7299212.stm>
Last Updated: Sunday, 16 March 2008, 11:11 GMT
'Eighty killed' in Tibetan unrest
Chinese troops on streets of Lhasa, Tibet, 16/03/08
Chinese troops were out in force in Lhasa on Sunday
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 Chengdu province have been 
recalled from leave and put on standby.

        
TIBET DIVIDE
China says Tibet always part of its territory
Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before 20th century
1950: China launched a military assault
Opposition to Chinese rule led to bloody uprising in 1959
Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled to India

Q&A: China and Tibet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7299221.stm
Tibetan monastery tense
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7298617.stm

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.

Tibet map

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.

In an interview with the BBC, the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, said he feared there would be more deaths 
unless Beijing changed its policies towards Tibet, which it has ruled since invading in 1950.

"It has become really very, very tense. Now today and yesterday, the Tibetan side is determined. The Chinese side also 
equally determined. So that means, the result: killing, more suffering," he said.

"Ultimately, the Chinese government is clinging of policy, not looking at the reality. They simply feel they have gun - 
so they can control. Obviously they can control. But they cannot control human mind," he warned.

The unrest erupted a fortnight before China's Olympic celebrations kick off with the start of the torch relay, which is 
scheduled to pass through Tibet.

        
The Dalai Lama

Profile: Dalai Lama

But the Dalai Lama emphasised that he still supported Beijing's staging of the Olympic Games this summer, saying it was 
an opportunity for the Chinese to show their support for the principle of freedom.

The International Olympic Committee said it hoped to see the Tibetan unrest resolved peacefully, but its president 
Jacques Rogge rejected any boycott, saying it "doesn't solve anything".

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday urged China to "exercise 
restraint" in dealing with the protests.

She spoke as pro-Tibet demonstrations were held in Nepal, New York, Australia 
and several European cities.

VIDEO AND AUDIO NEWS
Dalai Lama on the 'tense' situation in Tibet
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7290000/newsid_7299200?redirect=7299209.stm&news=1&bbwm=1&bbram=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1&asb=1

INSIDE TIBET

KEY STORIES

'Eighty killed' in Tibetan unrest
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7299212.stm
Witnesses describe Lhasa unrest
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7297248.stm
Tibet poses dilemma for Beijing
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7297249.stm

IN PICTURES

Riot aftermath
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7298022.stm
Life of a nomad
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/06/asia_pac_tibetan_nomads/html/1.stm
Tibet's railway
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/5128684.stm
TIBET IN VIDEO
watch China resumes control
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7290000/newsid_7299100?redirect=7299162.stm&news=1&bbram=1&nbwm=1&nbram=1&bbwm=1&asb=1
watch Dalai Lama
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7290000/newsid_7299200?redirect=7299209.stm&news=1&bbwm=1&bbram=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1&asb=1
watch Lhasa tourists' ordeal
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7290000/newsid_7298000?redirect=7298084.stm&news=1&bbram=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1&bbwm=1&asb=1
watch Tibetans' vigils
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7290000/newsid_7297900?redirect=7297950.stm&news=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1&bbram=1&asb=1

FEATURES

Young Tibetan woman, Zhongar Tibet: Old and new
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7279789.stm
The Tibetans caught between tradition and change

Han Chinese describe life in Tibet
Railway brings a new era
Squeezed religious freedoms
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6944750.stm
Relocation of rural Tibetans
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6944342.stm
Surviving a Tibetan gulag
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4618775.stm

BACKGROUND

Tibetan monks Quick guide
Some of the dominant issues facing Tibet and its people
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456954/html/nn0page1.stm

Q&A: China and Tibet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7299221.stm
Profile: The Dalai Lama
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1347735.stm
Regions and territories: Tibet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/4152353.stm