Deaths reported in Tibet, China blames Dalai Lama

By Chris Buckley and Lindsay Beck

BEIJING (Reuters) - Independence protesters burned shops and cars in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on Friday and Chinese police were reported to have shot dead at least two people, in the fiercest unrest in the region for two decades.

China accused followers of the Dalai Lama of "masterminding" the uprising, which shatters its carefully-cultivated image of national harmony in the buildup to the Beijing Olympic Games.

A spokesman for the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader called the allegation "absolutely baseless". The Dalai Lama appealed to China to stop using force and begin dialogue. Similar protests in the past have been crushed with gunfire and mass arrests.

Peaceful marches by Buddhist monks in recent days have given way to angry crowds confronting riot police.

"Now it's very chaotic outside," an ethnic Tibetan resident said by telephone. "People have been burning cars and motorbikes and buses. There is smoke everywhere and they have been throwing rocks and breaking windows. We're scared."

Radio Free Asia, quoting witnesses, said Chinese police fired on protesters, killing at least two. A source told Reuters two Tibetans were shot dead near the Ramoche Monastery near Lhasa. The deaths could not be verified.

"We are waiting to see what will happen tomorrow," said a Tibetan woman in Lhasa. "It could get much worse."

Up to 400 protesters gathered at a market near the Jokhang temple early on Friday and confronted 1,000 police, according to a witness cited by the Free Tibet Campaign in London.