By Elizabeth Olson

Associated Press Writer

GENEVA, July 21, 1995 (AP) -- China won its battle Friday to exclude Tibetan advocacy groups from the upcoming U.N. women's conference in Beijing.

China maintains that Tibet, which it invaded in 1950, is part of China so Tibetan women are represented by the official Chinese delegation. The Tibetan groups were among 19 private organizations whose participation in the conference was challenged by China, Iran, India, Iraq, Sudan and Bhutan. Iran also persuaded the United Nations to bar six private groups from the conference on grounds they advocated violence and were linked to terrorism.

The decisions were made by the U.N. Economic and Social Council and announced by its chairman, Ahmad Kamal of Pakistan.

The Fourth World Conference on Women, set for Sept. 4-15, has been beset by controversies. The parallel meeting of private groups seeking to influence the conference's positions on such key issues as poverty and violence against women was moved to an unfinished site 30 miles outside of the main site in Beijing.

China and other countries objected to dozens of private groups after the U.N. General Assembly adopted a set of rules to evaluate their applications. A total of 2,182 groups were admitted to the meeting but controversy continued behind closed doors over 19 organizations. In the end, only eight of them were admitted.

Critics accused the United Nations of barring the 11 other groups out of political considerations. A key group that China failed to block was the American-based Human Rights in China, which monitors and publicizes human rights violations.

The Tibetan groups barred were the International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet and the Tibetan Rights Campaign, both U.S.-based, and the Tibetan Women's Organization in Switzerland.

In March, one Tibetan group, the Women's Federation of Tibet Autonomous Region of China, was accredited. The United Nations was unable to say whether the group is affiliated with China.

Iran blocked entry to six groups of Iranian women who live overseas. Three others passed muster. A group from Bhutan and another group of unknown affiliation were also barred.