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Tibetans urge Bush to boycott Olympic opening

By DPA

Washington : Several hundred Tibetan exiles have called on US President George W. Bush to boycott the Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing in August in protest of China’s reaction to demonstrations in Tibet.

Demonstrators outside the White House waved posters Monday urging independence for Tibet and Chinese talks with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, before marching to the Chinese embassy in Washington.

Two people were detained by police after a group of people tried to scale the fence surrounding the embassy, authorities said.

The group claimed people inside the embassy had been taking photos of the crowd and said they had tried to put a Tibetan flag on the building.

Protests were also set for New York and Los Angeles. An estimated 12,000 Tibetans live in the United States.

The demonstrations came on a global action day for the Tibetan cause called to coincide with the arrival of the Olympic torch in Beijing.

More than 150 Tibetan organizations worldwide have called on the International Olympic Committee to take Tibet off the Olympic torch route and have requested the torch relay sponsors – Coca Cola, Lenovo and Samsung – to withdraw their sponsorship.

The anti-Chinese demonstrations by Tibetans Monday were by far the biggest since the protests erupted on March 10, involving about 350 demonstrators, including monks, nuns and youths.