By Jeffrey Parker

BEIJING (Reuter) - A senior Tibetan-affairs official refused to say Monday how China would resolve an explosive fight over a top Buddhist lama's reincarnation, saying secrecy was needed to avert political unrest in the Himalayan region.

The official hinted that China had not rejected the exiled Dalai Lama's controversial recognition of a Tibetan "soul boy" as recipient of the late Panchen Lama's spirit.

The Chinese official, a key player in the Communist Party's administration of Tibet, also denied reports the boy or the head of a Tibetan Buddhist search team that found him were in detention.

The official, who briefed reporters on condition his name not be disclosed, refused to discuss the status of the boy or that of the nettlesome search for a new Panchen Lama.

"This is a problem of China's internal affairs and we can solve it quite well ourselves," he said in defense of his insistence on secrecy. "I don't want anyone to exploit this problem to carry out actions harmful to Tibet's development and stability," he said, noting that Tibet had been stable despite the fight.

The 10th Panchen Lama died in 1989, sparking a mystical search for the Tibetan child to whom his spirit had migrated. Controversy erupted May 14 when the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's exiled "god-king," announced his recognition of six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama. Beijing quickly unleashed what has become a furious and unrelenting attack on the Dalai Lama, branding his choice illegal and void because he failed to seek China's approval. China maintains it has final say over senior lamas under terms of a 1792 Qing Dynasty agreement and that both the Dalai and Panchen Lamas were approved by Beijing.

The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 with thousands of followers after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.

The Chinese official accused the Dalai Lama of trying to woo disciples of the Panchen Lama, whose decision to stay in Lhasa left Tibetans divided, and of defying the Panchen Lama's deathbed vision that his reincarnation would become known from lots pulled from a golden urn.

Names of candidates to be placed in the golden urn traditionally have been forwarded to China's central government for approval, he said, calling this a rule that must be followed.

The official did say Tibetan history included instances of living Buddhas, including Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas, being recognized without the golden-urn procedure, typically when only one candidate had emerged, but said this was rare.