Paris: French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday held talks with a Buddhist monk close to the Dalai Lama to discuss "a range of options", the Elysee Palace confirmed.

As a growing number of world leaders indicated they would not be attending the August opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing, and the global torch procession became mired in protests, the two men looked at ways of bringing the Tibetan spiritual leader and the Chinese authorities together.

"The president was very concerned that a dialogue should be opened and that the question of Tibet be resolved in a satisfactory manner," Ricard said after the discussions.

Ricard stressed he was not mandated to speak on behalf of the Dalai Lama, but met the president in order to "impartially and sincerely" bear witness to what he said were 192 deaths and 2,300 arrests in the current stand-off in Tibet.

Sarkozy "put the focus on the credibility of the information coming out on behalf of the Tibetans," Ricard added.

The Elysee confirmed the meeting took place, without giving further details.

"Various options were discussed, but I do not think that it's up to me to reveal their contents," Ricard added.

But he mentioned the idea floated by French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, of having the Dalai Lama meet all of the EU s foreign ministers.

Ricard, who lives in a monastery in Nepal, is the Dalai Lama's French translator. Sarkozy has already linked his own appearance at the Olympic Games opening ceremony to progress on China s human rights record in Tibet.
Source : PTI