The demonstration in Greece on Monday underlined international anger over Tibet and a determination to keep harassing China on the issue. -- PHOTO: AFP

Amid reports of new bloodshed despite a major crackdown by Chinese forces, the demonstration in Greece on Monday underlined international anger over Tibet and a determination to keep harassing China's communist leaders on the issue.

With Tibetan exiles putting the death toll from more than a week of unrest in China at around 140, protesters briefly disrupted the flame ceremony as it was broadcast live around the world - with Chinese officials on hand.

Chinese media ignored it in their accounts of the lighting of the flame, which kicked off a five-month world tour of the Olympic torch in the run-up to the Aug 8-24 event which China hopes will be a showpiece for the nation.

The China Daily instead called the flame ceremony 'a perfect start'. The protesters, from Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, were arrested and could be facing a year behind bars in Greece.

The Global Times, a specialised newspaper focussing on international news, carried a short reference to the protest at the end of a lengthy report.

VIDEO Tibet protests at Olympia (2:40)

The incident helped renew international attention on China's crackdown on the two weeks of protest over China's rule of Tibet, which China has blamed on exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

State-run Xinhua news agency reported a policeman was killed in fresh clashes on Monday in Garze, a southwest region in Sichuan province with a large proportion of ethnic Tibetans.

The officer was killed on the spot while other policemen were injured when a group attacked them with knives and stones, according to the report.

'The police were forced to fire warning shots, and dispersed the lawless mobsters,' an official was quoted as saying.

Activist groups have said at least one Tibetan was killed in Garze on Monday.

The India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said one Tibetan protester was shot dead and another left in critical condition following 'indiscriminate firing' at a group of about 200 demonstrators.

Peace protests began in Tibet on March 10 to mark the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule in the region.

The unrest has since turned deadly and spread to other parts of the country.

Independent confirmation of reports from the region and areas populated by Tibetans has been extremely difficult due to curbs China has placed on foreign media.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday repeated her call for China to hold direct talks with the Dalai Lama, saying she believed he could play 'a very favourable role' in dealing with the 'grievances of Tibet.'

Tibet, a mountainous region that straddles Mount Everest and is more than twice the size of France, has been a flashpoint issue for China's Communist leadership ever since it came to power in 1949.

Communist forces were sent into Tibet in 1950 to 'liberate' the region, with official Chinese rule beginning a year later.

Tibet has taken on greater importance in the run-up to the Olympics in August, which the country's leaders hope will be a chance to show off China's rapid transformation into a modern economic power.

Despite the protests, calls for a boycott of the Games have been muted.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Monday that there was 'deep concern' over events in Tibet but has dismissed talk of boycotting the event.

It is unclear how the unrest is viewed by the Chinese public, but reports in the state-controlled media indicated the government might be winning the propaganda war.

A video clip titled 'Tibet was, is, and always will be part of China' became an instant hit after it was posted on YouTube on March 15, attracting 1.6 million hits in eight days, according to the China Daily. -- AFP