Reuters

Beijing, Mar 18: Premier Wen Jiabao defended China's crackdown in Tibet on Tuesday, accusing the Dalai Lama of organising the rioting which has left several dead.

"There is ample fact and plenty of evidence proving this incident was organised, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique," Wen told a news conference.

"This has all the more revealed the consistent claims by the Dalai clique that they pursue not independence but peaceful dialogue are nothing but lies."

The Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959, has denied Chinese accusations that he incited the rioting.

Monk-led pro-independence protests - the biggest in almost two decades - erupted in the Tibet's regional capital, Lhasa, last Monday and have spilled into nearby Chinese provinces populated by Tibetans. Some turned ugly, weighing uncomfortably on China, which is anxious to polish its image in the build-up to the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

China said it had shown great restraint in the face of the violent protests. But even as the Governor of Tibet said no guns were used against protesters in Lhasa, troops poured into neighbouring areas on Monday night to enforce control as the regional capital counted down to a midnight deadline for protesters to surrender.