Tibetan monk dies after self-immolation in China

Aug 15, 2011, 12:34 GMT

Beijing - A Tibetan monk died on Monday after setting fire to himself in protest against Chinese rule in the south-western region of Sichuan, London-based Free Tibet and state media reported.

Free Tibet quoted sources as saying Tsewang Norbu, 29, set fire to himself around midday in the centre of Daofu town, known as Dawu in Tibetan, in Sichuan's restive Ganzi, or Kardze, district.

'He has died as a result of his injuries,' the group said.

It quoted witnesses as saying Tsewang Norbu drank petrol and poured the liquid over himself before igniting it.

He shouted: 'We Tibetan people want freedom', 'Long live the Dalai Lama' and 'Let the Dalai Lama return to Tibet,' the witnesses said.

The Chinese government's Xinhua news agency later confirmed that Tsewang Norbu's death and said he was a monk at the local Nyitso Monastery in Dawu.

'It was unclear why he had burnt himself,' the agency quoted a local government statement as saying.

'The local government has launched an investigation,' it said.

The death is the second of a Tibetan monk this year, following a similar self-immolation in Sichuan's neighbouring Ngaba district in March.

'Today's news exposes how desperate some Tibetans feel,' Free Tibet Director Stephanie Brigden said in a statement.

Bridgen said she was concerned that Monday's protest could prompt a similar security crackdown in Dawu to the one that followed the self-immolation in Ngaba.

'In the last few hours telephone lines have been cut and internet cafes closed in an effort to control news spreading across Tibet and to prevent news being shared with the outside world,' she said.

'We have received reports that the army has surrounded the monastery,' Bridgen said.

Police detained dozens of Buddhist nuns, monks and other Tibetans after several peaceful protests in recent months in Ganzi.

The Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's highest spiritual leader, has lived in exile since he fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule of Tibet.