Dalai Lama Threatens to Quit Amid Chinese Accusations

The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, today ramped up government attacks on the Dalai Lama, accusing followers of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader of orchestrating riots in Lhasa in order to sabotage the Beijing Olympics.

His comments prompted the Dalai Lama to say he would resign if the unrest, which has spread to other provinces, spiraled out of control.

Speaking at a press conference, Wen told reporters that the situation was "basically" returning to normal.

However, he added: "There is ample fact and plenty of evidence proving this incident was organized, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique.

"This has all the more revealed [that] the consistent claims by the Dalai clique that they pursue not independence but peaceful dialog are nothing but lies."

Wen said the protesters "wanted to incite the sabotage of the Olympic games in order to achieve their unspeakable goal".

Asked whether he feared boycotts of this summer's Beijing event, he insisted: "I have confidence [that] the smiles of 1.3 billion Chinese people ... will be reciprocated by the smiles of people from all over the world."

In a separate press conference, the foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, dismissed the Dalai Lama's calls for an investigation into the Chinese crackdown on the demonstrations.

"The one who should be tried and investigated is the Dalai Lama himself," he said. "I feel at least he should be put under moral trial."

Wen told reporters the authorities had responded to the protests with "extreme restraint".

Officials said 13 "innocent civilians" died last week, adding that three rioters were killed when they jumped off a roof to escape police. Tibetan exile groups said the death toll was at least 99 - including 19 deaths in protests outside Tibet today.

Central Lhasa is understood to remain under lock down, with witnesses reporting that mass arrests were taking place well before yesterday's midnight deadline for protesters to hand themselves in.

"When the fighting began, you saw no Chinese," a Canadian tourist who left Tibet today told Reuters. "Now you see no Tibetans on the streets. The young Tibetans are probably hiding."

Speaking at a news conference at his base in Dharamsala, northern India, the Dalai Lama, a Nobel peace laureate, brushed off the Chinese attack.

"Investigate thoroughly, so if you want to start investigating from here you are most welcome," he said.

"Check our various offices ? they can examine my pulse, my urine, my stool, everything."

He said that, if matters became "out of control", his "only option is to completely resign".

His spokesman, Tenzin Taklha, said the unrest started with one or two incidents. "Because of technology, because of word of mouth, word quickly spread," he added. "This was very spontaneous."

Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, told reporters it was facile to attribute unrest "to some deep, dark conspiracy bred by the Dalai Lama".

"A degree of introspection on the part of Beijing would be appropriate in understanding why the Tibetan people feel so repressed by China's restrictive policies," he said.

Roth called for more pressure to be put on China over its handling of the protests, saying the Olympics provided "an opportunity to encourage a positive evolution".

However, he added that boycotting the games would not be productive because the games were so popular with ordinary Chinese people.

While the EU and many nations urged Beijing to show restraint, the International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge, yesterday said there had been "absolutely no calls" for a boycott.

Hans-Gert Poettering, the president of the European parliament, said politicians planning to attend the opening ceremonies should "consider, if [the violence] continues, whether it would be responsible to make such a trip".