Tibetans protest as Wen arrives

Hundreds of young and elderly Tibetans protested noisily here today demanding freedom for Tibet as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo arrived on a three-day visit to India.

Hundreds of young and elderly Tibetans protested noisily here Wednesday demanding freedom for Tibet as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo arrived on a three-day visit to India.

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Carrying hand-written placards and waving Tibetan flags, the Tibetans gathered outside the Parliament Street police station in the heart of the city.

"Free Tibet Wen, Free Tibet Now" was one of the placards carried by the protesters, who kept a steady chant of slogans in Hindi and English.

The protesters also raised slogans against Wen, who is to hold talks with Indian leaders before heading to Pakistan.

The Tibetans have vowed to stage demonstrations outside the Chinese embassy as well but police have imposed prohibitory orders in the area to block the gathering of five or more people.

India is home to the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and about 100,000 Tibetan exiles. Many of them fled to India with the Dalai Lama in 1959 after the failure of an anti-Communist uprising.

The Dalai Lama's government-in-exile is based in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala. It is not recognised by any country.