German man slightly hurt in fire at pro-Tibet vigil

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man taking part in a "vigil for Tibet" near China's embassy poured a flammable liquid over himself and set himself on fire on Thursday but other protesters quickly put the flames out, police said.

The 26-year-old man suffered slight injuries and was not taken to hospital, a Berlin police spokesman said.

"He poured a flammable liquid over himself and set it on fire," the spokesman said. "But other participants standing nearby were able to extinguish the fire almost immediately. He had only very minor injuries."

The man was detained by police and faces charges of violating German demonstration laws. It is illegal in Germany to carry flammable materials at demonstrations.

About 100 people took part in the vigil. They had earlier tried without success to hand a petition protesting China's crackdown on demonstrations in Tibet to China's ambassador.

Chinese police opened fire and wounded four protesters this week in a Tibetan community in the western province of Sichuan, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

Tibet authorities said they had arrested dozens of people involved in protests that have swept the mountain region and prompted Beijing to pour in troops to crush further unrest.

China's response to last week's violence -- which it says was orchestrated by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader -- has sparked international criticism and has clouded preparations for the Beijing Olympics in August.

(Writing by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Andrew Roche)