HHDL on the (Secret) Road to Mongolia Next Week

Dharamsala, India; Aug 18, 2006 -- The Dalai Lama plans to visit Mongolia next week, officials with his government-in-exile said yesterday, but they declined to provide travel details fearing trouble from China's regime.

The Aug. 21-28 visit by the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader is being organized by Mongolia's largest monastery, Gandantegchillen, said Tenzin Taklha, a spokesman for the Dalai Lama, in an e-mail.

The exiled Tibetan leader's last visit to Mongolia in 2002 sparked angry protests in China.

At the time, the Dalai Lama took a flight via Tokyo since both Russia and South Korea refused to grant him a transit visa, apparently under pressure from the Chinese. There are no direct flights between New Delhi, India's capital, and Ulan Bator, Mongolia's capital.