Dalai Lama regrets protests against Olympic torch relay

The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has expressed regret for protests targeting the Olympics torch relay, a spokesman of the Tibetan government-in-exile said today.

Dharamsala:  The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has expressed regret for protests targeting the Olympics torch relay, a spokesman of the Tibetan government-in-exile said today. "Since I have always supported the Beijing Olympics I feel sorry for the incidents (of protests against the Olympics torch relay) that have taken place in London and Paris but fully understand the demonstrators' desire to express their feelings," he stated.

Earlier on Friday, while speaking to the reporters at Ann Arbor, the Dalai Lama, however said, "China needs to look into the poor human rights record at home." He said that he had sent a written appeal to Chinese president Hu Jintao on March 19 soon after anti-China protests began in Tibet early last month.

The Tibetan spiritual leader further added: "We are making an effort to reach out to the Chinese government through a private channel, even though we do not have anything concrete as yet." He expressed that he was "fully committed to democracy and the exiled Tibetan community's structure was fully democratised".

"Since 2001 we have an elected Tibetan leadership and I am in a semi-retired stage. With provisions given in the Tibetan charter, people have the right to freedom of speech and expression."

The Dalai Lama fled from Tibet in 1959 after a failed coup against the Chinese communist regime. The Tibetan government-in-exile based in the city in northern India is not recognised by any nation. (IANS)

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