Tibetan unrest spreads to nearby province

Rioting has erupted in a province neighbouring Tibet, two days after 80 people were killed in unrest after protests by Tibetans.

A crowd of Tibetans hurled petrol bombs, burning down a police station and a market in the county's main town and set fire to two police cars and a fire truck.

Security forces fired tear gas and arrested five people.

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said that paramilitary police shot and killed at least seven protesters.

The new disturbances came as Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, called for an investigation into whether cultural genocide, intentional or not, was taking place in his homeland.

'The Tibet nation is facing serious danger. Whether China's government admits or not, there is a problem,' he said.

He also said he fears there will be more deaths in the Himalayan region unless Beijing changes its policies.

Meanwhile, anti-riot troops locked down Lhasa to prevent a repeat of Friday's violence, the most serious in nearly two decades.

The authorities have set rioters in Lhasa an ultimatum, urging them to surrender by midnight on Monday and gain possible clemency, or face harsh punishment.

80 people have been confirmed dead, the Tibetan government-in-exile said from India, contradicting the official account in China's state-run media that there were just 10 deaths.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged Beijing to 'release monks and others who have been detained solely for the peaceful expression of their views.'

Monks first took to the streets of Tibet last Monday to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising and protests soon spread to adjoining regions inhabited by pockets of Tibetans.

Irish Government concern

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern conveyed the Government's urgent concern over the situation in Tibet to the Chinese embassy in Dublin.

Mr Ahern said the Chinese authorities should show restraint and he urged the need for dialogue.

'The situation is very worrying. Enough lives have been lost. Now is the time for talking,' Mr Ahern said.

Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche who is in Beijing for St Patrick's Day activities, told RTÉ's Foreign Editor, Margaret Ward, that while he might have personal concerns about events in Tibet, he was in China for other matters and he had not raised the issue at meetings with officials there.

Labour TD Michael D Higgins said there was  an urgent need for the international community to respond to the events unfolding in Lhasa and throughout Tibet over recent days. 

He said the fact that the Dalai Lama was comparing the disturbances  to the events of 1959 should be considered of the utmost significance.

The Tibetan Community in Ireland and a local support group held a demonstration in Dublin today to show solidarity with the people of Tibet.

A group of protestors gathered on O'Connell street this morning in their attempts to put the Tibet issue firmly in the public consciousness.

There were calls on the Government to use its influence in the international arena.