Tibetans deny China's 'human torch' claim

China has reported that the self-immolation was to take place in Lhasa

The Tibetan authorities in exile have strongly denied accusations by China that they sent a monk into Tibet to set himself on fire as an act of protest against Chinese rule.

A spokesman at the office of the Dalai Lama, at Dharamsala in India, said it was a basic Buddhist principle that followers should not harm themselves or anyone else.

The bloody, abortive self-immolation incident masterminded by the Dalai Clique has... made the public clearly see... the 14th Dalai Lama is hiding his savage nature

Editorial by the Chinese news agency Xinhua

China said earlier that it had jailed a monk, Cengdan Gyaco, who was conspiring to set himself ablaze in front of a temple in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on the instructions of the Dalai Lama.

It said another monk Tugyi, was to videotape the incident, with the recorded material to be sent to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

China has also accused the men of being spies for the Dalai Lama.

A report on Friday by the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, said Gyaco has been jailed for eight years for spying and "agitating separatism".

The report said that the Dalai Lama's security ministry met Gyaco, gave him training as a spy and arranged for him to pick up money in Nepal. Tyugi's case is still pending.

Timing 'significant'

The Tibet Information Network told BBC News Online that the announcement by China was a clear attack on the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama is currently on a visit to the US

"The timing is significant," the new agency's Kate Saunders said, adding that the two men were initially arrested nearly a year ago.

"It comes at a time when the Chinese are involved in a major propaganda campaign in connection to the anniversary next week of the so-called peaceful liberation of Tibet."

She said it also comes during the Dalai Lama's visit to the United States, and ahead of his meeting with senior officials.

"The sensational nature of this report reflects the on-going frustration among the Chinese authorities about the Dalai Lama's role in the world," she said.

Monks in Tibet are one of the government's targets

The Xinhua report was published along with an editorial in which a stinging attack was made on the Dalai Lama.

"The bloody, abortive self-immolation incident masterminded by the Dalai Clique has once again made the public clearly see that underneath the hypocritical face of the "guardian of human rights", the 14th Dalai Lama is hiding his savage nature that allows him to cruelly waste human life, endanger society, trample on human rights and split the motherland," the commentary said.

The Dalai Lama, a Nobel peace laureate, fled Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, and has mounted an international campaign for greater Tibetan autonomy since.