Chinese arrest Tibetans, seize weapons

BEIJING, April 16 (UPI) -- Chinese officials say they arrested more than 2,000 Tibetan protesters amid outbreaks of violence and weapons discoveries at several monasteries.

Authorities seized nearly 25 pounds of dynamite Tuesday at a monastery in northeastern China. Bullets, knives and flags of the "Tibetan government in exile" were found at four other monasteries in the Tibetan-populated region, officials said.

Chinese police said they released 1,870 of 2,204 protesters who surrendered following anti-government protests in the northeast city of Gannan that left 94 injured, the Indo-Asian News Service reported Wednesday.

The weapons seizures come as a Chinese Foreign Ministry official blamed the Dalai Lama for holding up effective dialogue, the Xinhua news agency said.

"Our position towards the Dalai Lama is consistent and clear cut. The government has been exerting maximum patience to maintain contact with the Dalai Lama. The barrier now is not on our side but on the Dalai side," the official said.