Two Tibetans get death for role in Lhasa riots

Riot police ride in the back of a truck in a street in Lhasa, Tibet June 20, 2008. Two Tibetans have been sentenced to death for their role in riots in Tibet's regional capital of Lhasa last year, China's official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Two Tibetans have been sentenced to death for their role in riots in Tibet's regional capital of Lhasa last year, China's official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

They were found guilty of "starting fatal fires" during the riot, the report said, citing a court spokesman. Two others got suspended death sentences and another life imprisonment.

Protests by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule on March 14 last year led to the deaths of 19 people and sparked waves of protests in Tibetan areas. Tibetan exiles say more than 200 people died in the crackdown.

A year later, a tight web of troops and police throughout Tibetan areas appeared to have deterred large-scale unrest.

A trickle of isolated protests in recent weeks, including a monk who set himself on fire at the Kirti monastery in western Sichuan and a bomb thrown at a government office which caused no casualties, suggested lingering discontent.

Last month, Tibet's self-exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, lamented that Tibet, which he fled 50 years ago after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, had become a "hell on earth" thanks to repressive rule from Beijing.