But Tibet's exiled spiritual leader denied the charges. He told a press conference in India that he would resign if the violence got out of control, repeating what he said in a 1987 interview.

The comments came as an uneasy calm returned to Lhasa, the Tibetan capital city that was rocked last Friday by the worst anti-government riots in two decades.

Residents reached by phone told The Straits Times that a sense of normalcy had returned, while Chinese television reports showed the reopening of shops and schools.

But Tibetan activists and rights groups claimed that the police had arrested hundreds of locals after an ultimatum for protesters to turn themselves in lapsed on Monday at midnight.

Mr Baima Chilin, a vice-chairman of Tibet's government, said that 100 people had given themselves up to police for taking part in the riots.

Independent verification of the conflicting accounts had proven difficult after the Chinese government banned foreign journalists from travelling to Lhasa and Tibetan towns which have witnessed unrest.

Mr Wen made no apologies for the media ban despite the government's promise to allow greater press freedom ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.

Speaking at a press conference marking the end of China's annual legislative session, the premier dropped his usually conciliatory tone when responding to questions about the Tibetan protests.

'There is ample fact and plenty of evidence proving this incident was organised, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique,' said Mr Wen.

'This has all the more revealed the consistent claims by the Dalai clique, that they pursue not independence but peaceful dialogue, are nothing but lies. Those claims that the Chinese government is engaged in cultural genocide are nothing but lies.'

Mr Wen, when asked, said the Chinese government had never closed the door on dialogue with the Dalai Lama. But observers said Beijing's tough rhetoric suggested that a conciliatory approach was not in the pipeline.

Said Professor Tsering Shakya, a Tibet expert at the University of British Columbia in Canada: 'The next few weeks will be very tense with the police searching house to house and detaining anyone who is thought to have participated in the revolt.

'There will be considerable pressure on individuals to become informers in order to protect themselves.'

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SIM CHI YIN

chinhon@sph.com.sg

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