The Associated Press
Thursday, Aug. 24, 2000; 8:34 p.m. EDT

UNITED NATIONS –– The United Nations responded to the "sensitivities" of China in excluding the Dalai Lama from a world conference of religious leaders, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday.

"Let me say that I understand that many people are understandably and deeply disappointed that the Dalai Lama will not be here for the religious summit next week," he said. "But let me also say that this house is really a house for the member states and their sensitivities matter."

The Dalai Lama, the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner, is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists. He fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed revolt against Chinese rule of the mountain region.

More than 1,000 religious leaders have been invited to the Millennium World Peace Summit from Aug. 28-31, which will be held in the U.N. General Assembly chamber for the first two days although the United Nations is not an official sponsor.

But U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard confirmed last month that the Dalai Lama was left off the invitation list for fear that his presence would draw a strong protest from China.

Organizers have invited the Dalai Lama to give the closing address at a New York hotel, but he declined because he was left out of the main conference.

"In any effort of this kind you try to make progress, take progress as you get it, and not hold out for the absolute best," Annan said. "And I personally believe that having a thousand religious leaders here next week talking about peace, talking about our world and praying for all of us and praying for peace is progress."

The conference is funded by Ted Turner's U.N. Foundation, the Better World Fund and others. It will be held on the sidelines of the U.N. Millennium Summit, which is expected to bring over 150 world leaders to U.N. headquarters from Sept. 6-8.