Protests in Tibetan capital turn violent

Beijing: Protesters in Tibet's capital burnt shops and vehicles on Friday as the Himalayan region was hit by its biggest protests in two decades.

There were also reports at least ten people died in the violence.

Peaceful street marches by Tibetan Buddhist monks over the past days gave way to angry crowds of hundreds who confronted anti-riot police in the remote region-testing China's grip on control just as it readies for the Olympic Games.

"Now it's very chaotic outside," an ethnic Tibetan resident said by telephone.

Shops and vehicles were torched and gunshots echoing through the streets of the ancient capital, Lhasa.

The European Union called on China to show restraint and Washington said Beijing needed to respect Tibetan culture.

Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, appealed to China not to use force against protesters.

The Dalai Lama called on the Chinese leadership to "address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people. I also urge my fellow Tibetans not to resort to violence."

The largest demonstrations in nearly two decades against Beijing's 57-year-rule over Tibet began on Monday.

The demonstrations turned violent on Friday when witnesses reported hearing gunfire and seeing vehicles in flames in the city's main shopping district in the centre of Lhasa. Crowds hurled rocks at security forces and at restaurant and hotel windows.

Radio Free Asia, which is funded by the US government, quoted witnesses as saying two bodies were seen lying on the ground in the Barkor area, a shopping district in the old city where the protests have been centered.

The protests that began on Monday's anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule were initially led by hundreds of Buddhist monks, but also attracted large numbers of ordinary Tibetans.

They were spreading to Tibetan areas outside Lhasa, a city of about 250,000 permanent residents, not including large numbers of soldiers and members of China's paramilitary People's Armed Police.