Tanks and other military vehicles were on the streets of Lhasa on Saturday amid a heavy security clampdown following violent riots in the Tibetan capital, witnesses told media by phone.

'There are many armed police, special police and People's Liberation Army soldiers everywhere in the streets of Lhasa today,' said a Chinese resident speaking to media by phone who declined to give his name.

TANKS AT EVERY INTERSECTION

'I saw tanks and armored personnel carriers patrolling the streets. They block every intersection to check vehicles.'

A receptionist at a hotel in a different part of Lhasa said she and many guests at the establishment had also seen tanks and other military vehicles.

Freedom of movement in the tense capital had also been severely restricted, she added.

'We cannot go out and nobody can come in the hotel. All hotels near the (riot area) are blocked off,' said the woman.

'All stores have been closed and people are not allowed to go out to the street. We don't know what is happening outside because we have been asked by police to stay in the hotel since yesterday.'

BIGGEST PROTESTS IN TIBET IN TWO DECADES

China's Xinhua news agency said seven people had died in the biggest protests in Tibet in two decades, most of them business people.

A brief dispatch by Xinhua news agency also said that 'Lhasa city has reverted to calm.'

The unrest came amid a growing international campaign by Tibetans to challenge Beijing's rule of the Himalayan region ahead of the Olympic Games in August.

Agencies

Güncelleme Tarihi: 15 Mart 2008, 12:29