Dalai Lama calls for end to violence in Tibet

By Chris Buckley and Lindsay Beck

BEIJING (Reuters) - The Dalai Lama said on Tuesday he would step down as head of Tibet's government-in-exile if that would stop bloodshed in his homeland, but China repeated its charge that he was the mastermind of a violent uprising.

His officials, based in the Indian Himalayan foothills, said they believed 99 people had died in clashes between Chinese security forces and Tibetans over the past week, including 19 on Tuesday alone.

Chinese state-run media said more than 100 people had given themselves up to police after taking part in Tibet's most intense unrest against Chinese rule for nearly two decades.

Baima Chilin, vice chairman of the Chinese-run government of Tibet, said they had been "participants, and some were directly involved in beating, smashing, looting and arson".

Authorities had set a Monday midnight deadline for rioters to hand themselves in or face tougher punishment if caught.

Premier Wen Jiabao defended the crackdown on Lhasa, capital of the mainly Buddhist mountain region, and on ethnic Tibetan areas of neighbouring provinces where protests have erupted.

"There is ample fact and plenty of evidence proving this incident was organised, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique," Wen told a news conference in Beijing.

"This has all the more revealed the consistent claims by the Dalai clique that they pursue not independence but peaceful dialogue are nothing but lies."