Tibetan protestors ask IOC to call off Olympic torch relay

OUT IN FORCE: A protester holds a placard with a repainted portrait of Chinese President Hu Jintao during a demonstration.

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New Delhi: Even after International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge reassured of nothing untoward happening in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics, around 600 people protested outside the IOC headquarters in Laussane on Tuesday against China's crackdown in Tibet.

The group demanded that the IOC call off the torch relay through Tibet.

"Stop killing in Tibet," a banner read. "Mister Rogge, your silence kills Tibetans," said another, referring to the sports body's president, Jacques Rogge.

The IOC should take a stand against China, said Jigme Drongshar, the spokesman for the Tibetan community in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

"We want a clear statement," he said. "We demand from the IOC that they should not close their eyes today and should act now."

The demonstrators were mostly members of the Tibetan community in Switzerland.

Four Tibetan athletes also participated in the protests.

The IOC has already issued a statement saying it respected the right of the protesters to demonstrate but the IOC is a sports organisation and is not in a position to pressure China or any other countries on political matters.

"We are of the firm belief that the Olympic Games are a catalyst which will leave Beijing and China a great legacy to manage and to sustain," the statement said.

A week of protests against Chinese rule in Tibet culminated in violence Friday when Tibetans attacked ethnic Chinese and torched their shops in Lhasa.

China reacted with force, according to Dalai Lama's government-in-exile in India.

Officials there said 16 people died in the violence, but exiled Tibetans said as many as 80 people may have been killed by Chinese authorities.

(With inputs from Associated Press)