Russian Buddhists request Dalai Lama visit

ELISTA, Russia, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Russian Buddhists have asked the country to let the Dalai Lama visit, a request Russia has consistently denied.

The request to the Foreign Ministry came from Buddhists in the Caspian north coast region of Kalmykia, European Russia's only Buddhist-dominated region, a representative of a Kalmykia central temple said, RIA Novosti reported.

In March, the Dalai Lama resigned as Tibet's political leader to the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile in Dharamsala, India.

At the time, he called on Tibetans to continue seeking autonomy from China, which has controlled Tibet for 52 years.

China has claimed the Dalai Lama orchestrated the March 2008 unrest in Tibet that killed 19 people and injured 623, according to official Chinese reports. The Dalai Lama has denied the claim.

The Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is the spiritual leader of Tibetans.