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France hints at Olympic boycott over Tibet

Associated Press and Reuters

France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner says the European Union should consider boycotting the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics if violence continues in Tibet.

The head of the European parliament and media watchdog Reporters Without Borders called Tuesday for an opening ceremony boycott. Mr. Kouchner said the proposal is "interesting."

Mr. Kouchner told reporters in Paris on Tuesday that the idea should be considered by EU foreign ministers at a meeting this month.

He insisted that France had no plans to boycott the entire Olympic Games, saying that would not be "just."

Earlier, the Dalai Lama said he would resign as Tibetan leader if the situation veers out of control in Tibet and denied accusations from China that he was inciting riots.

“If things become out of control then my only option is to completely resign,” Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, told a news conference at his base of Dharamsala in northern India.

On Tuesday, China's premier Wen Jiabao accused the Dalai Lama of orchestrating riots in which dozens may have died and said his followers were trying to “incite sabotage” of Beijing's August Olympic Games.

The Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959, denied Chinese accusations that he was masterminding protests and said he was against violence, whether from Chinese or Tibetans.

“Even 1,000 Tibetans sacrificed their life, not much help,” he told reporters. “Please help stop violence from Chinese side and also from Tibetan side.”

The Dalai Lama said he had nothing to hide from the Chinese.

“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 with a laugh, miming as he talked.

The Nobel peace laureate reaffirmed that he wanted autonomy for Tibet within China but not outright independence.

Later, one of his top aides clarified the Dalai Lama's comments.

“If the Tibetans were to choose the path of violence he would have to resign because he is completely committed to non-violence,” Tenzin Takhla said. “He would resign as the political leader and head of state, but not as the Dalai Lama. He will always be the Dalai Lama.”

As the Tibetan spiritual leader, he was recognized at age two as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama and enthroned before he turned four. He assumed full powers at age 15, in the year that troops from Mao Zedong's newly founded communist republic entered Tibet and crushed its small army.

Monk-led anti-China protests in Lhasa, the biggest in almost two decades, turned ugly on Friday, weighing uncomfortably on the Communist leadership anxious to polish its image in the build-up to the Olympic Games.

India hosts the Dalai Lama in the India city of Dharamsala, seat of the self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile and the scene of daily protests in the past week.

More than 2,000 Tibetans gathered on Tuesday from all over northeastern India for their biggest rally in the area in years, demanding the United Nations investigate reports of killings of protesters in China.

Led by hundreds of shaven-headed Buddhist monks in maroon robes, some as young as eight, they waved Tibetan flags and marched through the streets of Siliguri, chanting: “We want justice, we want freedom”.

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