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Dalai Lama envoys say little progress in Tibet talks with China

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NEW DELHI, May 8 (RIA Novosti) - Envoys of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said on Thursday last weekend's talks in China to end the crisis in Tibet brought no progress.

Speaking about the talks, the first since March riots in Tibet, the envoys of the Dalai Lama, accused by Beijing of masterminding the events, said: "We disagreed more than we agreed."

At the talks the Chinese delegation was asked to release Tibetans held in jails and provide medical treatment to the injured, said one of the envoys, Lodi Gyari.

The only issue the sides agreed on Saturday was to launch another round of talks, Gyari said.

The Tibetan government-in-exile expects that the talks will be held before the start of Beijing's Olympic Games in August, he said.

The unrest in Tibet, which started on March 10 when Buddhist monks took to the streets to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule, left 19 people dead and 623 injured and caused an estimated $35-million worth of damage, according to official reports in China.

The Tibetan government in-exile, however, put the figure much higher at 203 dead and over 1,000 injured.

China's handling of the protests in Tibet's capital, Lhasa, has been severely criticized in the West. Some leaders called for a boycott of the opening ceremony of Beijing's Olympic Games if China failed to agree on holding talks with the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959, has repeatedly said he seeks autonomy for Tibet rather than independence from China. Beijing has demanded that the spiritual leader recognize Tibet as a part of China.

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