World Tibet Network News Tuesday, June 9, 1998

MOSCOW, June 8, (AFP) - Tibet's spiritual leader-in-exile the Dalai Lama announced a September visit to Tuva, in central Siberia, and two other mainly Buddhist Russian republics, a Russian news agency said Monday.

Replying to an invitation from the republic's president, Sherig-Ool Oorzhak, he said he also wanted to travel to the neighbouring Russian republic Buryatia, and to Kalmykia, on the Caspian Sea.

In a message to the authorities in Tuva, the Dalai Lama wrote: "We are happy to support the rebirth of Buddhist traditions in your republic."

He welcomed moves to strengthen relations between Tuva and Tibet.

Last month, riot police in the Buryatian capital of Ulan-Ude violently broke up a Buddhist demonstration protesting a decision to send a Buddhist text to United States museums for a year.

At the time, the Dalai Lama's local representative supported the loan.