Paris: Several hundred demonstrators rallied today in Paris in the name of Tibet with a call on the international community to step up pressure on China.

Protesters were seen marching towards the Eiffel Tower with Tibetan flags and placards that read "stop cultural genocide" and "freedom in Tibet". One poster showed a bleeding man with the words: "Negotiation, Chinese-style." "Over the last two months, the repression has continued in Tibet," the president of France's Tibetan community, Thupten Gyatso, told reporters.

"We are demonstrating to denounce violations of Tibetans human rights and to urge the international community to maintain maximum pressure on Beijing." While contact between Chinese officials and representatives of the Dalai Lama is a "positive" development, there needs to be "direct dialogue" between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, Gyatso added.

In the Netherlands, similar numbers of Chinese and Dutch citizens of Chinese origin joined a rally in Amsterdam in solidarity with the Beijing Olympics Games, which has been the focus of protests elsewhere.

In central Dam square, police said about 400 demonstrators - organisers put their numbers at 1,500 - took part in the gathering, carrying English-language placards that read "Great Games, Zero Politics."

Source : PTI