China releases gory details of Tibet riot violence

By Benjamin Kang Lim

BEIJING (Reuters) - China released gory details on Monday of knife-wielding Tibetan protesters carving off a chunk of flesh from a Chinese paramilitary policeman and cutting off the ears of passers-by.

But the accusations by Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government, and a Chinese-language Web site could not be independently confirmed because foreign reporters are barred from the region.

"The mob used methods that were extremely ruthless. It makes one's hackles rise," Qiangba Puncog, an ethnic Tibetan and the top government official in the region, told a news conference.

A member of the People's Armed Police was beaten unconscious by a mob, one of whom then used a knife to carve out a chunk of flesh the size of a fist from his buttocks, said Qiangba Puncog, who holds a rank equivalent to a provincial governor.

A passer-by was burnt alive after petrol was poured over him, he said.

Monk-led pro-independence protests erupted in Tibet's regional capital Lhasa last Monday -- the 49th anniversary of an uprising that drove the Himalayan region's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, into exile in India.

The Chinese edition of the official Web site www.chinatibetnews.com published a picture of a paramilitary policeman crawling on his knees outside a temple while "lawless elements madly attacked him".

"The mob was extremely vicious ... even cut off the ears" of passers-by, the Web site said.

It also ran a picture of a mob beating up two cyclists.

The biggest protests in the predominantly Buddhist region since 1989 have spilled over into neighboring Chinese provinces populated by ethnic Tibetans. Some have turned ugly.

Protesters torched 56 vehicles and 300 venues, including 214 houses and shops, Qiangba Puncog said.

Tibet's self-proclaimed government-in-exile said up to 80 people had been killed in total, but Qiangba Puncog put the figure at 13.

Tsegyam, head of the Tibet Religious Foundation of the Dalai Lama in Taiwan, told reporters that more than 100 people had been killed and about 1,000 injured in the rioting.

It is near impossible to obtain independent confirmation. Most local residents fear political repercussions for speaking to foreign reporters.

Protesters also burned down a mosque and Muslim restaurants, fuelling ethnic tensions not just between Han Chinese and Tibetans but also Tibetans and Hui Muslims.