DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) — The speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, was to meet the Dalai Lama on Friday, the first high-level official to do so following a wave of unrest in Tibet.
Pelosi was flying from the Indian capital to the northern hill town of Dharamshala, the base of the Tibetan spiritual leader and his government-in-exile, a US embassy official said.
Reports said Pelosi was likely to make a statement on Tibet, China and the issue of human rights. Pelosi is a sharp critic of China's human rights record, and the meeting will be her second with the Dalai Lama in six months.
Pelosi had presented the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honour given by the US legislature, to the Dalai Lama at a function in Washington in October, which enraged Beijing.
The talks also follow a fresh appeal for restraint and dialogue between the Tibetans and the Chinese by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday.
The Tibetan exiled government has said it has confirmed at least 99 Tibetan deaths in a Chinese crackdown on protests and riots marking the 49th anniversary of China's takeover of the Himalayan region.
China has rejected the higher death tolls.
Chinese authorities have repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama, who fled his homeland after the 1959 uprising, of masterminding the latest unrest, a charge the Buddhist monk strongly denies.
The 72-year-old said Thursday he was willing to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao if he got "concrete indications" Beijing was ready to talk about the future of Tibet.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
