Victims all

While some have played up ethnic conflict as the root of the riots, many officials and residents say that Tibetans are also victims.

Of the 18 killed in the March 14 riot, three were Tibetans. Stores owned by Tibetans were also not spared from the looting and torching.

Some rioters, mostly Tibetans and a few Han people, said they were forced to join the riots.

"I was threatened and forced by some strangers to take part in the riots. I feel very regretful over that. I want to say sorry to the victims," said 25-year-old Daindar, who turned himself in to authorities in Lhasa.

There were also many cases of Tibetans who had saved the lives of their Han and Hui neighbors from the riots.

In Maqu, Cuchim Gyamco, a Tibetan monk from a subsidiary of Labrang Lamasery, begged the rioters for mercy and managed to take an injured policeman to a safe place.

Yet the sudden horror after decades of peace has clearly struck the local residents and left them with nightmares.

A teacher named Cering at the Labrang Tibetan Primary School said the memories of the violence still haunt many of the teachers and students.

The school's 24 male teachers have now been divided into four groups to patrol the school at night to ensure safety, Cering said.

(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily, April 14, 2008)