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Paris: The Dalai Lama accused Chinese troops of opening fire on protesters in eastern Tibet on August 18 and said in an interview published on Thursday he had unconfirmed information that 140 people were killed.
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader told Le Monde daily that the army opened fire during a protest in the eastern Tibetan region of Kham on Monday.
"I gather that 140 Tibetans were killed, although the figure needs to be confirmed," the Dalai Lama was quoted as saying.
"Since the riots in March, reliable witnesses have established that 400 people have been killed in the Lhasa area alone ... If you consider the whole of Tibet, the number of victims is obviously higher," he said.
Visit to France
The Dalai Lama is nearing the end of a two-week visit to France during which he has already accused China of increasing repression in Tibet.
On Monday the Free Tibet Campaign, an activist group, said China had stepped up repression in its ethnic Tibetan regions to prevent any protests during the Beijing Olympics.
China's crackdown on protests in Tibet in March drew widespread criticism in the international community and Beijing accused the Dalai Lama and his allies of orchestrating the trouble. He denies this.
"Ten thousand people have been arrested since March. We don't know where they are being held," the Dalai Lama said.
He said Chinese authorities were accelerating the construction of military camps in Tibet and this made him fear they had plans to maintain Tibet under long-term repression.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy declined to meet the Dalai Lama.
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