"We want to reopen the talks to resolve the Tibetan issue through the process of dialogue and whenever it is convenient for the Chinese authorities, our special envoys could travel to Beijing," said spokesman Thubten Samphel.

He was speaking on the final day of a three-day meeting of the task force, which includes prominent Tibetan exiles from around the world.

The meeting was called to assess the situation in Tibet following the biggest anti-Chinese unrest in nearly two decades, which exiles say has left 150 Tibetans people dead. Beijing says Tibetan rioters have killed 20 people.

The unrest poses a huge domestic crisis for China as it tries to present a peaceful image ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.

The Tibetan task force, which has held six rounds of inconclusive talks with Beijing through special envoys since 2002, said there had been no change in its desire to pursue "the Middle Path" approach advocated by the Dalai Lama.

The approach does not call for independence but instead refers to "meaningful autonomy" to preserve Tibet's language, culture and environment within China.

Radical Tibetans have been pushing for a change in policy to seek independence for the vast Himalayan region.

The task force also said the group wanted to keep the struggle for greater Tibetan rights non-violent.

The group added it believed Beijing was still pursuing its crackdown against Tibetans following the anti-Chinese riots that erupted a month ago. Tibetan exiles have been protesting stern action taken against Tibetans by Beijing.

"There is no change in the situation in Tibet" according to the task force's latest information, said Samphel, who is also a senior official of the Tibetan government-in-exile based in northern India.

The government-in-exile set up in the town of Dharamshala after the Dalai Lama fled his homeland following a failed anti-Chinese uprising in 1959.

Speaking in his role as spokesman for the exile government, Samphel said human rights violations were continuing in Tibet and it was the right of every Tibetan to draw international attention to the situation.

"At the same time we are asking them to keep their protests peaceful," he said.

His statements came as 106 radical Tibetan exiles began a march from New Delhi to the Buddhist pilgrimage centre of Bodh Gaya in eastern India despite a police ban on the cross-country trek by the refugees.

"This march is aimed at paying respect to those people who died for the Tibetan cause," march organiser Dhondup Lhadar told AFP. India prohibits Tibetans from using the country as a platform for anti-Chinese campaigns.

Despite the unrest in Tibet, the Dalai Lama has insisted the Olympics should go ahead. Protests have dogged the Olympic torch relay since the flame-lighting ceremony in Greece on March 24, with major disruptions in Paris and London.

The Olympic torch is due to come to India -- home to at least 100,000 Tibetan refugees -- on April 17 and Indian authorities have been taking steps to protect the relay amid expectations of large demonstrations.

Samphel also denied speculation that the Dalai Lama's two-week trip to the United States, due to begin later Wednesday, was aimed at stirring fresh US support for protests against China.

"It's not a political visit and had been planned a long time ago," he said.

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