China will not punish a group of Tibetan monks for disrupting a government-organised foreign media tour of Lhasa and voicing support for the Dalai Lama, a senior official said in a bid to allay fears of repercussions.

Baema Chilain, vice-chairman of the Chinese-controlled Tibet Autonomous Region, also said "separatists" were planning to disrupt the Olympic torch relay in Tibet, but he pledged to ensure the flame's security there and on its planned ascent of Mount Everest, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday.

A day earlier, about 30 monks at the Jokhang Temple, one of the holiest in Tibet, shoved their way into a briefing and spent about 15 minutes telling reporters the government was lying about recent unrest. They also rejected Chinese claims that Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, was directing the rash of protests.

These monks will not be punished, Xinhua quoted Baema Chilain as saying.

"But what they said is not true. They were attempting to mislead the world's opinion," he said. "The facts shouldn't be distorted."    
The Dalai Lama has condemned the violence and denies he wants anything more than autonomy for his homeland.

More than two weeks of unrest in Tibet and western China, including a day of violence in Lhasa on March 14, and China's response ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August have sparked international controversy.

China has hoped the Olympics will showcase the achievements of the world's fourth-largest economy and its rise as a global power, but the Games are becoming a lightning rod for criticism.

"To our knowledge, some separatists from within and outside China are seeking to sabotage the Olympic torch relay within Tibet," said Baema Chilain. The flame arrives in Beijing on Monday.

"We are confident and capable of ensuring the security of the relay and taking it to the top of the peak."    

Police in Canberra, Australia, wrestled one protester to the ground during an otherwise peaceful protest by about 100 Tibet supporters in front of the Chinese embassy on Friday.

Demonstrators shouted "shame, China, shame" and carried photographs of people they said were victims of China's crackdown. The Tibetan community has promised a bigger protest next month when the Olympic torch arrives.

The Chinese government blames the Dalai Lama and his followers for the violence and claims there is overall harmony and religious freedom in the Himalayan region.

Critics of China, however, say there is widespread discontent among Tibetans, including monks, who feel their religious practices are restricted, their culture is being suffocated by an influx of Chinese to Tibet and their autonomy is not sufficient.

The London-based Free Tibet Campaign said it had received unconfirmed reports from various Tibetan sources inside Tibet that three main monasteries in Lhasa -- Ganden, Sera and Drepung -- have been cut off since March 11, with no access to food, water and electricity.

"The monks in those monasteries are being starved. The reports have said that Tibetan laypeople have attempted to bring food to the monasteries but have been denied access," it said.

Baema Chilain, the Tibet official, said the monks at the Ganden, Sera and Drepung monasteries as well as the Jokhang temple were being "temporarily confined to the premises as the authorities were investigating allegations that some of them led or participated in the violence".

The International Campaign for Tibet said it had received reports of mass arrests of Tibetans in Lhasa, notably Tibetans known to have studied in India -- where the Dalai Lama has lived since fleeing in 1959 -- and former political prisoners.

It quoted some sources as saying Tibetans had been taken away at gunpoint during house-to-house searches, and others had been herded onto trucks and, in one instance, fo