Tibetans mark deaths of protesters in China

By Bappa Majumdar

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Thousands of Tibetan exiles in India and Nepal, including their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, marked the deaths of protesters during last month's violent upheaval in Tibet with prayers and traditional funeral rituals

China lashed out at the Dalai Lama again, accusing him of manipulating opinion and governments in the West, just days after offering talks with his aides. China said he had plotted the unrest in Tibet.

In Dharamsala, the northern headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India, around 3,000 Tibetan monks and others attended special prayers called by the Dalai Lama in memory of those killed in Tibet.

Hundreds sat silently as the Dalai Lama led the prayers, officials said.

Many Tibetans laid food in the courtyard from biscuits to bananas in memory of those killed, witnesses said.

In New Delhi, hundreds prayed and chanted till nightfall on Monday. Some angry protesters wearing "Free Tibet" T-shirts shouted anti-China slogans, officials said.

In Nepal's capital of Kathmandu, maroon-robed monks and nuns with shaved heads led a march of about 5,000 people holding candles. The marchers walked from a Buddhist temple to a United Nations office.

Monday marked the 49th day since the March 10 protests in Lhasa, which triggered a violent response from Chinese security forces.