Published by: World Tibet Network News Issue Id: 97/10/28

KATHMANDU, Oct 27 (AFP) - Nepal authorities have arrested 37 Tibetans for illegally entering the country, police sources said Monday.

The Tibetans were arrested on Sunday in Kathmandu after arriving by bus from Katari 250 kilometres (156 miles) east of the capital.

Police said none had visas to enter Nepal and the exact purpose of their visit was unclear due to language problems. They had previously travelled without valid papers to different parts of the country.

A Home Ministry spokesman said the group would be handed over to the Department of Immigration Monday.

Tibetans in the past have passed through Nepal on their way to Dharamsala in India to meet their spiritual leader and Nobel peace prize winner the Dalai Lama.

He has been living in India since a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese occupation in the late 1950s.