BEIJING (AFP) - China braced against further protests on Sunday as it prepared for the arrival of the Olympic torch amid reports of fresh disturbances in the riot-torn Tibetan capital Lhasa.
Beijing tightened security in Tiananmen Square, where the Olympic torch will be officially welcomed to the country on Monday before beginning a worldwide relay expected to be dogged by protests over the unrest in Tibet.
Tension in the Himalayan region simmered, according to the Tibetan government-in-exile and activist groups, which reported a protest in Lhasa on Saturday.
The fresh disturbances occurred when residents of Lhasa's old Tibetan quarter panicked after police moved in to check identity papers of people in the area, according to the International Campaign for Tibet and the Free Tibet Campaign, citing their own sources in the city.
The incident prompted police to surround key Buddhist temples in the area and close many shops, said the groups, which stressed that no reports of violence were received.
"Thousands joined in the protests within no time," according to a statement on the website of the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamshala, India.
None of the accounts could be verified by AFP.
Monks denouncing Chinese rule had converged on the Jokhang temple, one of Tibetan Buddhism's holiest shrines, on Wednesday in the presence of foreign journalists who were on a trip arranged by the Chinese government.
Amid the unrest and foreign pressure, China tightened security around the already closely watched Tiananmen Square, site of 1989 democracy protests that were violently put down by the government.
Authorities announced new spot checks on visitors to "strengthen public security", according to the government's main website, ahead of Monday's torch-welcoming ceremony.
Protestors disrupted the torch-lighting ceremony in Ancient Olympia last Monday, highlighting concern about further trouble after China takes possession of the torch in Greece on Sunday.
The relay officially begins a 19-country odyssey on Tuesday, followed by an epic three-month tour around China.
Protests in Lhasa on March 10 to mark a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule later escalated into widespread rioting in the city that spread to neighbouring Chinese provinces populated by Tibetans.
Beijing says rioters killed 18 civilians and two police officers. Exiled Tibetan leaders have put the death toll from the Chinese crackdown at 135-140 Tibetans, with another 1,000 injured and many detained.
Police have arrested 26 people and seized guns and other weapons from the Geereng monastery in southwestern China, whose Tibetan monks rioted March 16, the official Xinhua news agency said late Saturday.
The report did not specify whether the 26 arrested were monks from the monastery, located in Sichuan province which borders Tibet.
Activist groups have said eight people were killed in the Sichuan clashes, while China says police merely shot and wounded four people.
It has been impossible to independently verify such reports as China has sealed off access to Tibet and adjacent riot-hit areas as it seeks to prevent the Tibetan unrest from tarnishing the Olympics in August.
China has ruled Tibet since 1951, a year after sending troops in to "liberate" the region from what it said was feudal rule, but Tibetans have long chafed under Chinese rule.
