Published by: World Tibet Network News, Tuesday, June 25, 1996

NEW DELHI, June 23 (UPI) -- Indian authorities have further tightened security around The Dalai Lama following intelligence reports of a possible attack on Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Officials in the snow bound tribal district of Kinnaur in northern Himachal Pradesh state have sounded a "red-alert" for the security of The Dalai Lama during his stay for the millennium celebrations of the Tabo monastery, The Indian Express newspaper said.

India's Home Ministry has asked the Himachal Pradesh state to tighten the security ring around the spiritual leader. Many of the Tibetan monks also may not be allowed entry into the ancient monastery for the celebrations due to the security risk, the news report said.

Indian authorities already have provided The Dalai lama with a security which is generally reserved for the visiting head of a nation. The spiritual leader has been provided with bullet-proof Mercedes Benz cars and armed escorts around the clock.

Metal detectors and baggage X-ray scanners also have been put up at Tibet's government-in-exile headquarters at northern Indian city of Dharamsala.

In November, the authorities had arrested three Tibetans who were allegedly Chinese spies operating in Dharamsala.

The Dalai lama and his 100,000 followers fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. Since then, the Tibetan spiritual leader has led a government-in-exile from India.

Tibet, which won independence from China in 1911, was reoccupied by Beijing's Communist regime in 1951.

In 1989, The Dalai Lama was bestowed with the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote religious freedom in Tibet.