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More than 250 Tibetans held in Nepal

AFP

A Tibetan activist shouts slogansAFP/Nepal

The protesters, many of them nuns and monks, were quickly bundled into waiting vans and trucks as they tried to march towards the heavily guarded building shouting, “We want a free Tibet” and “We want peace.”

“We have detained over 250 protesters,” police officer Ramesh Thapa told AFP, adding that all of them would be freed in the evening.

Police punched and kicked the protesters who resisted arrest, and some were hurt in the brief tussle, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Tibetans have been protesting almost daily after deadly unrest erupted against Chinese rule in the Himalayan region in March.

About 1,400 Tibetans were held Friday after they staged a demonstration at the same venue that coincided with the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing.

It was the largest number of protesters detained in one day since the protests began in March, police said.

Kathmandu has said no anti-China activity will be allowed as it seeks to preserve friendly ties with its giant northern neighbour.

Nepal is home to 20,000 exiled Tibetans who began arriving in 1959 after Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled his homeland following a failed anti-Chinese uprising.

Copyright © 2008 Agence France Presse

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