Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the Tibet autonomous regional government, said Wednesday that none of the monks identified as fatalities by the Dalai Lama had proven to be dead after careful investigation.

Of the list provided by the Dalai Lama, five referred to monks who served at lamaseries in the autonomous region, Qiangba Puncog told a press briefing organized by the State Council Information Office.

"The police tried to verify those 'victims' one by one. The result was that one name was a fabrication" and the other four were alive and well," the chairman said.

Qiangba Puncog also rebutted the Dalai Lama's contention that most Tibetans yearned for his spiritual leadership, including Qiangba Puncog himself and another veteran Tibetan politician, Ragdi.

"I'd better ask the Dalai Lama when and where, or through who, did I beg for his prayers?" Qiangba Puncog said.

"To the best of my knowledge," he said "the overwhelming majority of the Tibetan people, including monks, are supporting the Communist Party of China and our socialism."

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2008)