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Tibetan exile leaders fear Chinese reprisals after bomb
December 30, 1996
Web posted at: 1:45 p.m. EST (1845 GMT)(CNN) -- Members of Tibet's government-in-exile Monday denied any responsibility for last week's bomb blast in Lhasa and said they feared China would use the explosion as an excuse to increase repression in their Himalayan homeland.
China launched a manhunt across the mountainous region, tightened airport security and offered a reward of $120,000 after a bomb blast last Wednesday outside city government offices in the Tibetan capital. The bomb caused damage, but no casualties.
"Chinese authorities may use the latest incident of (a) bomb blast in Lhasa as a pretext for increasing political repression in Tibet," said a statement by the exiled government, headquartered in India's Himalayan foothills.
Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has been based in Dharamsala in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh since he fled there in 1959 following a failed anti-Chinese uprising.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Exiled Tibetans sustain culture from afar - December 7, 1996
- Dalai Lama calls for pressure on China over Tibet - July 16, 1996
- Dalai Lama arrives in Australia amid Chinese warnings - September 14, 1996
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