Angry Tibetans protest in Nepal

Hundreds of angry Tibetans have held protests in Nepal as the Olympic Games open in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

Police in Kathmandu made nearly 1,300 arrests as protesters rallied near the Chinese consular building.

Nuns, monks and other Tibetans screamed, shouted and wept. They accuse China of religious repression and say it has no right to host the Olympics.

More than 20,000 Tibetan refugees live in Nepal. Nepal's government is a staunch ally of China.

"China out of Tibet" and "Stop cultural genocide", the protesters chanted.

Many of the demonstrators wore red and blue ribbons emblazoned with "Free Tibet" around their heads.

One nun appeared to faint before being revived with water.

'Friendship with China'

Coming out onto the street in successive waves, many of the protesters resisted arrest.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says male and female police armed with batons manhandled some, dragging them through the dust.

The protesters were herded like livestock, squashed and squeezed into open or enclosed trucks, several score in each, our correspondent says.

China, an influential donor and trade partner of Nepal, has been putting pressure on Nepal not to let Tibetans demonstrate.

"We want that the Tibetans should stop protesting, taking into consideration the long-lasting relations of friendship with China," Nepal's home ministry spokesman Modraj Dotel was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying.

The Tibetans in Nepal say they want to tell the world that their religious rights are not being respected.

The Tibetans have been holding regular protests after deadly anti-government riots broke out in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and elsewhere in China in March.

In recent months, demonstrations have taken place across the world to draw attention to their cause in the run-up to the Olympics.

On Thursday, nearly 4,000 Tibetans marched in the Indian capital, Delhi, in one of their biggest protests in recent months, saying China had no right to hold the games.

Hundreds of Tibetan exiles also marched in Dharamsala in northern India, where the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile is based.