Nepal crackdown on Tibet protests, 84 held

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepali police broke up a pro-Tibetan rally in Kathmandu on Saturday and detained dozens of demonstrators.

Police said they detained 84 people protesting against Chinese rule in Tibet as they tried to demonstrate in front of a Chinese consulate office in the centre of Nepal's capital.

They will probably be released later in the day, police said.

Most, if not all, of the protesters were ethnic Tibetans. More than 20,000 ethnic Tibetans live in Nepal, where many have sought refuge after fleeing their Himalayan homeland following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

Nepal considers Tibet a part of China and does not allow exiled Tibetans to organize anti-China protests.

(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Jonathan Allen)