The Dalai Lama will not meet President Thabo Mbeki on his visit to South Africa which starts tomorrow.
The organisers of the visit, the African Cultural Heritage Trust, have not asked for a meeting, to avoid a repetition of the controversy which blew up when he last visited in 1999.
The Dalai Lama came then for a religious conference and the organisers arranged for all the participants to meet Mbeki. But Mbeki turned down a personal meeting with the Dalai Lama because of pressure from the Chinese government.
Tibet is part of China though the Dalai Lama is seeking autonomy from it and Beijing regards him as a dissident.
Tashi Wangdu of the office of Tibet in Pretoria said the Dalai Lama would meet Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini and IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
