WASHINGTON – Tibetan spiritual leader in exile the Dalai Lama will meet with President George W. Bush and other US leaders here next week on the status of contacts between his envoys and China, the International Campaign for Tibet said.
A White House spokesman said he could not confirm the meeting with Bush.
In addition, said the statement, the Dalai Lama was to meet during his Monday-to-Wednesday stay in Washington with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell and other administration officials.
“There has been an unmistakable swell in international support for Tibet over the last 15 years,” said Mary Beth Markey, head of the International Campaign for Tibet.
“Today, the international community sees the Dalai Lama as essential to a peaceful, lasting solution for Tibet.”
She said the Dalai Lama was also to meet with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee and he would speak at the 20th anniversary event of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.
The Dalai Lama fled the Potala Palace for India in 1959 as Chinese troops crushed an abortive uprising in Lhasa.
Chinese officials said on August 26 that if the Dalai Lama is permitted to return, it is highly unlikely he would be allowed to live in the ornate palace atop a high hill in the heart of the Tibetan capital.
