PARIS (AFP) — The Dalai Lama wrapped up on Saturday a visit to France that fuelled tensions between Paris and Beijing and saw four people arrested during a pro-Tibetan protest.
The Tibetan spiritual leader left the French capital on a flight bound for New Delhi after a 12-day visit during which he accused China of continuing repression against the Tibetan people during the Olympics.
His departure came on the same day three photojournalists, including one from Agence France-Presse, and a demonstrator were arrested during a pro-Tibetan protest outside the Chinese embassy in Paris.
The photojournalists were held and questioned by police after they photographed pro-Tibetan demonstrators unfurling a banner that read "China Lies - Tibetans Die" on a building next to the Chinese embassy.
All four were released, but the photojournalists had their cameras confiscated and police officers later took the banner down.
During his visit, planned more than two years ago, the 73-year-old Nobel Peace Prize-winner met French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, French human rights minister Rama Yade and first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
But President Nicolas Sarkozy declined a meeting, sparking accusations from opposition Socialists that "the only guiding principle (of Sarkozy's policy towards China) appears to be not to displease Beijing."
His office said, however, that Sarkozy will meet with the Dalai Lama before the year's end.
Beijing had cautioned Sarkozy that meeting the Tibetan spiritual leader would have "serious consequences" for bilateral relations, and on Wednesday warned France to deal prudently with the "important and sensitive" issue of Tibet.
On Friday, the Dalai Lama told Kouchner, "there is a certain form of brutal repression that continues parallel to the Olympic Games," according to his French interpreter.
In an interview with France's Le Monde newspaper published on Thursday, the Dalai Lama said Chinese troops fired on Tibetan protestors this week, as Beijing hosted the Olympics.
He also claimed that at least 400 Tibetans had been killed since March, and 10,000 had been imprisoned in secret locations.
China sent troops into Tibet in 1950 and officially "liberated" it the following year. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
Violent protests against Chinese rule broke out across Tibet in March, sparking a heavy Chinese crackdown on the Himalayan region that has drawn global condemnation.
China accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking independence for Tibet and of fomenting unrest to sabotage the Olympic Games.
The Buddhist leader insists he only wants autonomy and religious freedom, not independence for Tibet.
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