China Says Arrest Links Dalai Lama To Lhasa Rioting

Officials Assert Connection to Dalai Lama

BEIJING, April 1 -- Chinese officials said Tuesday that police have captured the head of an underground network that officials accuse of staging a deadly riot in the Tibetan capital last month. They also said Tibetan independence forces were planning to organize suicide squads to launch attacks aimed at forcing China to give up control of the Himalayan region.

The government, which has come under pressure to back up its claim that the Dalai Lama orchestrated the March 14 rioting in Lhasa, did not name the suspect or give details of his arrest but said he admitted he was acting at the Dalai Lama's instigation. A spokesman for the Tibetan spiritual leader dismissed the new allegations and reiterated that the Dalai Lama is committed to nonviolence.

Meanwhile, a human rights group said the situation in China is getting worse, not better, as the nation prepares to host the Olympic Games in August. China's response to protests in Tibet and its crackdown on rights activists "cast doubt on whether the Chinese authorities are really serious about their commitment to improve human rights in the run-up to the Olympics," said Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International.

China is beset by groups pushing it to engage in dialogue on controversial issues instead of continually hunkering down for a fight. Even the International Olympic Committee, which has resisted publicly pressing China on human rights and pollution concerns, warned Tuesday that the government must ensure unfettered Internet access to journalists covering the Games.

At a news conference, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu deflected criticism of China's control of news during the Tibet crisis and said journalists and Olympic athletes would have Internet access while they were in China for the Games.

At a separate news conference, a Public Security Ministry spokesman, Wu Heping, laid out a detailed chronology of meetings and contacts among Tibetan advocacy groups and the Dalai Lama's administration in Dharmsala, India. He said the contacts amounted to "sufficient evidence" that the Lhasa riot was "organized by the Dalai clique."

Wu said the suspect who had been arrested said he began his "separatist" activities in November 2006 after meeting with an unnamed person allegedly connected to the Dalai Lama. The suspect then recruited 12 people in Tibet to form an underground network whose goal was to overthrow the Chinese government, Wu said.

The group allegedly used code words in their communications, referring to the Dalai Lama as "uncle," for example. Their activities allegedly included gathering information inside China to funnel overseas and distributing computer disks and pamphlets within Tibetan areas that contained images of the Dalai Lama.

Wu said police had recently searched monks' dormitory rooms in several monasteries in Tibetan areas and discovered large numbers of weapons, including 176 guns, 13,013 bullets, 350 knives and 7,725 pounds of explosives. He did not provide evidence linking the weapons to the Dalai Lama, but said, "He is the one who encouraged those activities."

"To our knowledge, the next plan of the 'Tibet independence' forces is to organize suicide squads to launch violent attacks against China," Wu said. "They claimed that they fear neither bloodshed nor sacrifice."

A spokesman for the Dalai Lama, Thubten Samphel, denied all the accusations, and pressed for an independent international investigation of the Tibetan protests. As for suicide squads, Samphel called suicide "the worst form of violence," adding: "It is against the Buddhist philosophy and spiritual practice. We are committed to keeping our struggle nonviolent."

Chinese officials are increasingly pointing to security concerns, such as a possible suicide attack, to explain their plans for a heavy police presence during the Games. According to the Reuters news service, Chinese President Hu Jintao was quoted in the official newspaper of the Chinese paramilitary forces Tuesday as saying that security was paramount in ensuring a successful Olympics.

"Without security guarantees, the national image will be lost," Hu said, according to the People's Armed Police News. The newspaper said the government has issued a "political mobilization order" for riot police units to deploy during the Games.