Responding to criticism that the IOC has not done enough to push for improved human rights in China, Norway's Gerhard Heiberg said the IOC was concerned about Tibet but could not overstep its mandate and role as a sports organisation.

He said the IOC would pursue 'silent diplomacy' when meeting Chinese officials behind closed doors but had 'no right or possibility' to question China's domestic or foreign policies.

The IOC treats the events in Tibet, where China has used force to quell pro-independence protests, as part of China's domestic policy, not a rights issue.

'If we start getting mixed into this, we are lost as a sports organisation,' Heiberg, one of 10 IOC board members, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Mr Heiberg said that when 'political issues can influence the success of the Games, we may touch upon that'.

'Of course we are not happy about what has happened in Tibet and we may talk a little bit about that,' he said, referring to his IOC visit to China which starts this week and lasts until late April.

Mr Heiberg said the window of opportunity for the IOC to influence events in China was not open long. The Games run from Aug 8 to 24.

'For the time being, before August, we have the possibility of influencing the Chinese government. There's probably no one who has so much influence and power in China as the IOC right now.'

Rights pledges
Amnesty International said the Olympics have failed to catalyse reforms in China. Human Rights Watch said pledges to improve human rights before the Games appeared empty and mocked the spirit and letter of the Olympic Charter.

Mr Heiberg declined to comment on the rights groups' reports before talks with Chinese authorities and said China was living up to promises it made over its hosting of the Games, such as curbing pollution and giving more freedom to journalists.

Human rights groups in Norway have been pushing the IOC and the Norwegian government, which considers itself a champion of human rights, to speak out against the Chinese authorities' treatment of critics and human rights activists.

'Our aim is of course to protect the Games in China and try to help the Chinese and the rest of the world ensure a success for everybody. So of course we are concerned,' Mr Heiberg said.

Violent anti-government protests broke out in the Tibetan capital last month. The demonstrations have spread to Tibetan areas of western China and Tibetan exiles have held protests around the world.

Chinese leaders accuse the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, of orchestrating the wave of demonstrations from his home in exile in India where he has lived since a failed 1959 uprising against Communist rule. -- REUTERS