Death in Tibet

The death toll is rising.

Faith Central has some links, the BBC says, "At least 80 people have been killed in unrest following protests by Tibetans against Chinese rule, the Tibetan government in exile says. Indian-based officials said the figure was confirmed by several sources, even though China put the death toll at 10," the VOA reports that "Chinese authorities continued to level blame for the violence at what it calls "the Dalai clique," headed by Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who lives in northern India," and CNN, the Telegraph and others report that the Dalai Lama has called for UN investigations into the "cultural genocide" of the Tibetan people.

BoingBoing's update.

3/18/2008:

from the BBC:

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has accused the Dalai Lama of masterminding the recent days of demonstrations against Chinese rule in Tibet's capital, Lhasa.

Mr Wen said the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader's claim of "cultural genocide" was "nothing but lies".

The Dalai Lama denied he was behind the unrest and said he would resign from the government-in-exile if it worsened.