China 'will talk to Dalai Lama'

China's leaders are prepared to talk to the Dalai Lama over the future of Tibet, Gordon Brown has told Parliament.

The Prime Minister said the Chinese premier, Wen Jiaobao, told him he was prepared to hold talks with the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader under certain conditions.

"The premier told me that, subject to two things that the Dalai Lama has already said - that he does not support the total independence of Tibet and that he renounces violence - that he would be prepared to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama," Mr Brown told MPs.

Mr Jiaobao had previously accused the "Dalai Lama clique" in India of instigating a "life and death" struggle for control of the disputed Himalayan region.

The Dalai Lama angrily denied he was behind anti-Beijing protests in Tibet and offered to resign if the violence continued.

Mr Brown told Parliament he had made it "absolutely clear" to his opposite number that there had to be an end to clashes between Chinese soldiers and Tibetan demonstrators that have claimed an estimated 99 lives.

He added he will meet the Dalai Lama when the Buddhist leader visits Britain in May.

Tibetan activists demonstrated outside the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s headquarters in Lausanne on Tuesday, demanding Tibet and three neighbouring provinces be withdrawn from the torch relay for the games which start on August 8.

But Chinese officials have insisted the traditional Olympic torch relay will pass through Tibet despite widespread civil unrest.

When the flame arrives in Beijing on March 31 before embarking on its journey around the world, a second torch will be lit and taken to Tibet, where Chinese climbers will attempt to take it to the top of Mount Everest.

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