Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama...

Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, appealed to Chinese authorities not to execute Tensin Deleg Rinpoche, a Tibetan monk whose death sentence was suspended for a two-year period that expired on December 2. Rinpoche, 52, had been sentenced to death in 2002 with Lobsang Dhondup, a 28-year-old activist, for a 2002 bomb attack in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, that killed one person and injured another. Both men, who were also found guilty of other blasts in the Ganzi region of west Sichuan, denied the charges. Lobsang Dhondup was executed in January 2003 in the case that created an international outcry but Tensin Deleg's death sentence was suspended for two years.
"I hope, as in the past in some cases, the Chinese government and concerned officials will reconsider the death sentence," the Dalai Lama said.
China, however, branded the monk a "terrorist."
"As far as I know, relevant departments of justice have reviewed the case of Tensin Deleg and I think in any country for these criminals that jeopardise national security and engage in terrorist bombings, they will meet punishment according to law," foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said in Beijing.
Suspended death sentences in China are often cut to life imprisonment but Tibetans are treated differently because of the political sensitivity of Tibet. In New Delhi, three Indian MPs and their counterparts from the Tibetan government-in-exile tried to march to the Chinese embassy to hand over a memorandum seeking the monk's release. They were stopped by police. Later, police briefly detained the Tibetans but allowed the Indian lawmakers to drive to the embassy where mission staff refused to accept the memorandum. They instead asked them to leave it under the building gate, Thupen Chewang, one of the MPs, told AFP. "We are greatly concerned by the human rights violations in Tibet and in particular, the expiry of the reprieve period of death sentence on a peaceful Buddhist monk," the memorandum said. "We appeal to you to immediately release Tensin Deleg forthwith and unconditionally."