SARAJEVO - TIBETAN spiritual leader the Dalai Lama does not expect US policies to change much after president-elect Barack Obama takes office in January, a Bosnian daily reported Sunday.

'I know Obama and I do not believe that he will change the White House policies,' the Dalai Lama told Dnevni Avaz daily in the Polish city of Gdansk.

'I would rather say that it will play by the system ? new face, old policies,' he added without elaborating.

The Buddhist exiled leader and other Nobel Peace Prize laureates were in Gdansk on Sunday to mark the 25th anniversary of the day the award went to Poland's Lech Walesa for leading the Solidarity movement in a peaceful struggle against the then communist regime.

The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, has sought 'meaningful autonomy' for Tibet since he fled his homeland following a failed uprising in 1959 against Chinese rule, nine years after Chinese troops invaded the region.

China claims he actually seeks full independence.