Police looking for 88 suspects in Lhasa riots: China

The strongest and most sustained anti-government protests in the last 20 years have left 20 people dead, a toll figure the Tibetan groups disputes and puts at 150.

Till date, 365 suspects in the Lhasa riots had surrendered to police, of whom 328 had been set free because of minor nature of their offences and “willingness to cooperate” in the probe, the Bureau Vice-Director Jiang Zaiping said in Lhasa.

He claimed “absolute majority” of the suspects had pleaded guilty and said they were “pressured” into getting involved in the riots.

Lhasa had “basically” restored social order, he said, according to official Xinhua news agency. China had claimed two days ago that police had seized guns and explosives from 11 monasteries in Tibetan-populated prefecture of Gannan in Gansu province.

Officials had said that 519 monks had surrendered to police following violence in Gannan but 413 had been released as they were found to have committed only minor offences.

Days before, Chinese police had detained nine monks whom it accused of having exploded a homemade bomb in a Tibetan township government building during anti-government protests at Gyanbe in Qambo prefecture.

Authorities had announced that Tibet would be reopened to tourists from May one but it remains uncertain with reports that it had been deferred.

Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was for the regional Government to decide depending on local situation.

Tibet has remained out of bounds for journalists, though a group was taken recently on a government-controlled trip to Lhasa two weeks after the riots broke out.