(China Daily - Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-07 06:52

People whose names were included on a list of riot victims given by the Dalai clique are still alive, an investigation by Lhasa police has found.

The Dalai clique's "government-in-exile" on March 25 released the "names and details of 40 identified people" alleged to have died in the recent riots. However, the Lhasa police bureau found five of the people are still alive or never existed. The other 35 people, whom the clique merely mentioned the birthplaces or residences of as "Lhasa, Tibet" or "Aba, Sichuan province", were impossible to locate, the police said.

The Dalai clique announced the death of 31-year-old Lobsang Tsepel in Sera Monastery. However, the police investigation found the monk, 36, was still in the monastery.

The investigation found there were 12 people whose names include Ngodup at Tibet University, and all of them were alive and still working there. The Dalai clique had said a 28-year-old by that name had been killed in the unrest.

Also, Lobsang Doma, of the Garu Nunnery, was age 39 and alive - not 23 and dead, as the Dalai clique had claimed.

There was nobody named Rigzin Choenyi in the Shugseb Nunnery, while the nunnery has two people whose names included only the Rigzin part, and both were alive.

Also, there was nobody named Ngawang Thekchen in Taklung Drak Monastery, the investigation found.

Torch relay

The Tibet autonomous region's government held a meeting on Saturday to prepare for the Olympic torch relay's leg across the "roof of the world".

Tibet's Party chief Zhang Qingli said at the meeting social order in Lhasa and other parts of Tibet has been restored after the March 14 riots organized by the Dalai clique.

However, Zhang warned grave challenges are still ahead, as the Dalai clique is plotting new sabotage activities.

He urged all relevant departments to spare no efforts in preparing for the relay to guard against any possible incidents.

The Beijing Olympic flame's global relay officially started from Beijing's Tian'anmen Square on April 1.

And this year, the Olympic torch would for the first time be taken to the peak of Mount Qomolangma (Everest).

Arrest warrants

A local procuratorate on Saturday issued arrest warrants for 16 people allegedly involved in a March 15 riot in Dagze county, Lhasa.

"The evidence we've found has identified these people as suspects in cases of arson and endangering public security," Dagze procurator Ma Yongqing said. The suspects were all illiterate or semi-literate Deqing town residents and were largely ignorant of the law, Ma said.