22 February 2006
Dalai Lama visit to Bethlehem cancelled
(AFP) The Dalai Lama’s visit to Bethlehem was cancelled at the request of the Palestinian Authority, acting under pressure from China. The Holy Land Trust, a Palestinian NGO, which invited the Dali Lama to visit the birthplace of Jesus Christ, withdrew the invitation at China's request, said an official from the group. The Dalai Lama was to have visited the Church of the Nativity, a mosque, Bethlehem town hall and a nearby refugee camp, the source said. A senior official in the Palestinian foreign ministry confirmed that organisers had been asked to cancel the trip following a request from China. "At the request of the Chinese government, we have not received or dealt with him given his separatist ambitions for Tibet," Majdi Al Khaldi said. "Given our friendly relations with the Chinese government, which supports the Palestinian people, we asked the local [Bethlehem] authorities as well as civil society groups not to receive him and they acquiesced with our request".