The protesters had briefly gathered outside the gate of the embassy compound shouting, 'Stop the killing in Tibet' and, 'Free Tibet now', a witness at the scene said.

'We have detained 53 people for protesting outside the embassy,' police official Babukaji Karka said, adding that 200 officers were on duty to quell the protests.

Kathmandu has seen daily protests since unrest in Lhasa began on March 10, the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against the Chinese in 1959.

Nepal is home to at least 20,000 Tibetans, who started arriving in considerable numbers after the unsuccessful revolt against Chinese rule.

Around 2,500 continue to trek over the Himalayas each year to seek refugee status in Nepal and then often travel on to the home of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in northern India. -- AFP