Panchen Lama to become youngest China minister - sources

By Benjamin Kang Lim

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Tibetan youth, anointed by China's atheist Communists as the 11th Panchen Lama, is tipped to become the country's youngest official holding a rank equivalent to a cabinet minister.

China and the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Communist rule, chose rival reincarnations of the 10th Panchen Lama, the second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, in 1995.

The Dalai Lama's choice, then six, disappeared from public view, leading human rights watchdogs to call him the world's youngest political prisoner.

Beijing's choice, Gyaltsen Norbu, turned 18 on Wednesday.

"He is now an adult. He can vote and be voted for," a source familiar with government policy towards religion and ethnic minorities told Reuters, requesting anonymity.

A second source with knowledge of government policy on Tibet said: "He is likely to become a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress as early as next month."

The National People's Congress, or parliament, is due to convene its annual session on March 5. Members of its elite Standing Committee hold a rank equivalent to cabinet minister.

A parliamentary spokesman declined to comment.