Amid reports of new bloodshed during a major crackdown by Chinese forces, the demonstration in Greece on Monday underlined international anger over Tibet and a determination to keep harassing China's communist leaders on the issue.

With Tibetan exiles putting the death toll from 10 days of unrest at around 140, protesters briefly disrupted the flame ceremony as it was broadcast live around the world -- with Chinese officials on hand.

Chinese media ignored it in their accounts of the lighting of the flame, which kicked off a five-month world tour of the Olympic torch in the run-up to the August 8-24 event which China hopes will be a showpiece for the nation.

The China Daily instead called the flame ceremony "a perfect start". The protesters, from Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, were arrested and could be facing a year behind bars in Greece.

The Global Times, a specialised newspaper focussing on international news, carried a short reference to the protest at the end of a lengthy report.

The foreign ministry had sharp words for Monday's protest.

"Any act to disrupt the Olympic torch relay is shameful and unpopular," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing.

The incident helped renew international attention on China's crackdown on the two weeks of protest over its rule of Tibet, which Beijing has blamed on the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.

State-run Xinhua news agency reported a policeman was killed, and other officers injured, in fresh clashes Monday in Garze, a southwest region in Sichuan province with a large proportion of ethnic Tibetans.

"The police were forced to fire warning shots, and dispersed the lawless mobsters," an official was quoted as saying.

Activist groups have said at least one Tibetan lost his life in the clashes.

The India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported one Tibetan protester shot dead and another left in critical condition following "indiscriminate firing" at a group of about 200 demonstrators.

Protests began in Tibet on March 10 to mark the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule in the region.

The unrest has since turned deadly and spread to other parts of the country.

Thirteen people taking part in the March 10 demonstration are now under arrest, the state-controlled Tibet Daily reported Tuesday.

Independent confirmation of reports from the region and areas populated by Tibetans has been extremely difficult due to curbs China has placed on foreign media.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday repeated her call for China to hold direct talks with the Dalai Lama, saying she believed he could play "a very favourable role" in dealing with the "grievances of Tibet."

By contrast, Singapore said Tuesday it "supports the declared policy of the Chinese government to protect the lives and property of its citizens from violent demonstrators with minimum use of force."

Tibet, a mountainous region that straddles Mount Everest and is more than twice the size of France, has been a flashpoint issue for China's Communist leadership ever since it came to power in 1949.

Communist forces were sent into Tibet in 1950 to "liberate" the region, with official Chinese rule beginning a year later.

Tibet has taken on greater importance in the run-up to the Olympics in August, which the country's leaders hope will be a chance to show off China's rapid transformation into a modern economic power.

Despite the protests, calls for a boycott of the Games have been muted.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Monday that there was "deep concern" over events in Tibet but has dismissed talk of boycotting the event.

It is unclear how the unrest is viewed by the Chinese public, but reports in the state-controlled media indicated the government might be winning the propaganda war.

A video clip titled "Tibet was, is, and always will be part of China" became an instant hit after it was posted on YouTube on March 15, attracting 1.6 million hits in eight days, according to the China Daily.

earlier related report
Bush maintains silence on Tibet unrest
US President George W. Bush Tuesday again remained silent on the unrest rocking Tibet, leaving it to his staff to call for Chinese restraint and reiterate his plans to attend the Beijing Olympics.

There was no change to the White House position as French leader Nicolas Sarkozy floated the possibility of boycotting the opening ceremony of the Games, amid mounting anger at the Chinese crackdown on 10 days of protests.

Asked whether Bush might be re-thinking his plans, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino gave an emphatic denial.

"The last I checked with the president, no, our position remains that we believe that the purpose of the Olympics is to let international athletes come together and showcase their talents," she said.

She reiterated that the Olympics was an opportunity for the host countries to "put their best face forward and this is China's opportunity to do the same."

But that did not rule out the US administration clearly tell Beijing what it thought about the bloody unrest, she added.

According to Tibetan exiles, the Chinese crackdown on protestors in the Himalayan region ruled by China since 1951 has left at least 140 people dead.

Angry demonstrators on Monday attempted to disrupt the lighting of the Olympic torch in Greece, which kicked off a five-month world tour of the Olympic flame in the run-up to the August 8-24 Games.

But Bush has yet to comment publicly since the unrest erupted on March 10.

The president's uncustomary reserve illustrates how sensitive the subject of Tibet is in the delicate web of Sino-US ties, which even Bush has described as complex.

While the Bush administration drew a distinction between sports and politics, it was able to speak to China "very frankly about our concerns about human rights," Perino said.

The Olympics provide a country the opportunity to "put their best face forward and this is China's opportunity to do the same," she said.

"We've been very clear in our position about the situation regarding Tibet," she said.

"There is no doubt the Chinese government doesn't know (sic) what the president's position is on this," added national security advisor Gordon Johndroe.

Sarkozy on Tuesday refused to rule out an eventual boycott of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on August 8.

"All options are open and I appeal to the Chinese leaders' sense of responsibility," Sarkozy said, urging Beijing to launch a dialogue with the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama to resolve the crisis in Tibet.

The White House spokeswoman also said that Bush enjoyed a "good relationship" with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, allowing the US president to convey his views in a candid manner.

"The president will speak out when it's most appropriate for him to speak out," said a senior administration official asking to remain anonymous.

"As he says, he has a different platform than most people and he can speak from a position (...) based on a relationship that he has developed with Chinese leaders."

Last month, before the crackdown, Bush said he viewed the Olympics purely as a sporting event but also urged Beijing to use the occasion to ease political restrictions and embrace "greater openness."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack added Tuesday that Washington sought to "encourage the Chinese government to put their best face forward during the Olympics.

"The world is going to be watching. And it's an opportunity for China to allow greater freedom of expression, greater freedoms for journalists to report on events in China during the Olympics, and great application of those fundamental human rights that we have talked about."

The Bush administration has called on China to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, who Bush and the US Congress honored in October, sparking an angry response from Beijing.

China says it is willing to hold talks with the Tibetan spiritual leader but only after he gives up what is viewed in China as a campaign for Tibetan independence.

Chinese authorities have repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama, who fled his homeland after a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule, of masterminding the latest unrest, a charge the Buddhist monk strongly denies.

earlier related report
Nepal will not tolerate pro-Tibet protests: official
Nepal's government will not tolerate continued rallies by Tibetan activists outside official Chinese offices in Kathmandu, a spokesman for the home ministry said Tuesday.

"We won't allow any kind of anti-China protest strikes in Nepal," home ministry spokesman Modraj Dottel told AFP in response to a rally held Tuesday outside Chinese consular and state-run Xinhua news agency offices.

Nepal's capital has seen almost daily protests since unrest erupted on March 14 in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, prompting a crackdown by security forces that the Tibet government-in-exile in India says claimed 140 lives.

China puts the death toll at 20, and has vowed to crush the unrest that spread from Lhasa to other parts of China with significant Tibetan populations.

Sandwiched between regional giants India and China, Nepal recognises the official Chinese policy that Tibet and Taiwan are indivisible parts of China.

"Nepal's national policy recognises 'One China'. We will prevent any anti-China activities that take place in our territory," Dottel said.

The Tuesday rally of around 150 Tibetan protesters was broken up by baton-wielding security forces, witnesses said.

"We have detained around 100 protesters," a police officer at the scene told AFP, asking not to be named.

On Monday, police detained at least 400 protesters at three pro-Tibet events in Kathmandu.

The United Nations and human rights groups have criticised Nepal for alleged excessive use of force including tear gas and bamboo batons.

About 20,000 Tibetan refugees have lived in Nepal since the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising against the Chinese.

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