Two killed as Lhasa arrests continue

At least two people have been killed in fresh protests in a Tibetan part of western China.

The deaths come as Chinese authorities made arrests in Tibet's capital Lhasa in an effort to reassert control in the troubled region.

Unrest in Sichuan's Ganzi Tibetan Prefecture left one police officer dead, according to state media, and the exiled Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported one Tibetan protester shot dead and another critically hurt.

"The police were forced to fire warning shots, and dispersed the lawless mobsters," Chinese state media reported, without mentioning any deaths of protesters, who it said attacked officers with rocks and knives.

Meanwhile, protesters seeking to put pressure on China tried to disrupt the Beijing Olympic Games torch-lighting ceremony in Greece. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang called the behaviour "disgraceful".

Elsewhere, French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged China to show responsibility over the unrest and refused to rule out a possible boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games.

He said: "I don't close the door to any option, but I think it's more prudent to reserve my responses to concrete developments in the situation."

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said British traditions of free speech and freedom to demonstrate will be upheld when the Olympic torch arrives in London.

Amid Commons exchanges on the situation in Tibet, he warned that campaigners may abandon the peaceful course urged by the Dalai Lama and resort to violence, telling the House: "The need for political dialogue has never been greater."

Mr Miliband said Prime Minister Gordon Brown had urged Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to respect freedom of expression and religion and to start a political dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

In Washington, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, reacting to Mr Sarkozy's remarks on the Olympics, said there was no change in President George W Bush's plans to attend the Games.

"We believe that China should respect minority cultures - particularly in this case, the Tibetan culture - and we want to make sure that there is freedom of the press and international access to the area," Ms Perino said.

China fears the Olympic torch procession could turn into a global wave of protest against its treatment of Tibet.

Beijing had hoped the torch's travel around the world would be a symbol of national unity ahead of the Games, but anti-China demonstrations are threatening to snuff out the spirit of the Olympics.

On Monday, human rights demonstrators disrupted the torch lighting ceremony despite a tight police cordon in Greece. Human Rights Watch said the torch should not go through Tibet unless China agrees to an independent investigation into the unrest there.

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