Further unrest in Tibet?s capital appeared to have been sparked by attempts by police to carry out security checks, indicating the tension and volatility remaining in Lhasa weeks after a deadly anti-government riot. It was unclear exactly what occurred in Lhasa on Saturday but a mobile text message to residents from police said security checks carried out earlier in the day had ?frightened citizens? and caused panic in the city centre.

Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet and Radio Free Asia quoted witnesses as describing people ?running in all directions and shouting?. It was not clear if the security check was in response to a protest, or if the check itself caused the panic. ?Please obey the law and please follow the rules, don?t create rumors, don?t believe rumors, don?t spread rumors?, read the text message, which was reprinted by the Free Tibet Campaign and International Campaign for Tibet.

The fresh tensions come as China prepares to receive the Olympic flame in its capital Beijing today, for the start of a domestic and international relay that the government hoped would symbolize national unity ahead of Games in August. Instead, China finds itself deflecting criticism over its policies in Tibet and its response to unrest there, and is facing the prospect of weeks of protests as the Olympic flame circles the globe.

Speaking in Laos yesterday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao repeated the government?s assertion that the Lhasa riot was ?violent and criminal?. U.S. President George W. Bush has urged China to exercise restraint in its response to the unrest and to meet representatives of the Dalai Lama, against whom Chinese state media has been waging an intense propaganda campaign. A meeting of European Union foreign ministers also called on Saturday for an end to violence in Tibet and urged dialogue on the region?s religious and cultural rights. But in a joint text, the bloc avoided reference to the Beijing Games, after a week of public differences over whether to boycott the opening ceremony.

<B>Lindsay BECK</B>