Chinese try to hide mountain murders

KATHMANDU - Chinese diplomats in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are tracking down and trying to silence hundreds of Western climbers and Sherpas who witnessed the cold-blooded murder of Tibetan refugees in a mountain pass last week.

Meanwhile, fears are growing for the safety of a group of terrified Tibetan children, aged 6 to 10, who were marched off in single file after at least two refugees, including a nun, were shot dead.

The children were being sent by their parents into exile in Nepal to be educated as part of a group of 70 or so refugees crossing the Nangpa Pass in broad daylight.

Between 2500 and 4000 Tibetans make the dangerous crossing through the Himalayas via Nepal to India each year, seeking refuge after repression in Tibet.

Such crossings are usually made at night or in the depths of winter. But this time - probably because of the young children - the Tibetans crossed hours after daybreak.

The nun who was killed was 17-year-old Kelsang Namtso, who was leading the children. A boy of 13 was also gunned down under the eyes of hundreds of Western climbers, including two British policemen standing 1000m away at an advance base camp.

Later, three Chinese soldiers with assault rifles marched the children through the camp at Cho Yu - 8201m up and 20km west of Mt Everest - as stunned climbers and Sherpas watched.

None of the Westerners, who are believed to have included doctors, tried to aid the Tibetans, such was the atmosphere of fear on the mountain.

The gunfire from high-powered assault rifles continued for over 15 minutes.

The shooting happened at about 10.30am on September 30. Fears for the safety of Western climbers still in Tibet and worries that China will clamp down on profitable climbing operations has meant that news has been slow to trickle out.

A well-known American climber was the first to break the silence. He told the Independent yesterday of his revulsion at the failure of other climbers to speak out.

"Did it make anyone turn away and go home?" he asked. "Not one."

So far there has been no official Chinese comment.

After the attack, about 41 refugees, including a girl of 7, escaped over the pass into Nepal, where they have been cared for and interviewed by the International Campaign for Tibet.

Chinese border security personnel have custody of nine children aged 6 to 8 as well as an old man who did not make it over the border.

Steve Lawes, the British police officer, described how "a group of between 20 and 30 people on foot was heading towards the Nangpa Pass. Then those of us at advance base camp heard two shots, which may have been warning shots.

"The group started to cross the glacier and there were more shots. We were probably around 300 yards away from the Chinese who were shooting. This time it definitely wasn't warning shots: The soldiers were putting their rifles to their shoulders, taking aim, and firing towards the group. One person fell, got up, but then fell again."

Half an hour after the shooting, he said, the children were marched through the climbers' camp.

"The children were in single file, about six feet away from me. They didn't see us - they weren't looking around the way kids normally would, they were too frightened. By that time, advance base camp was crawling with soldiers."

- INDEPENDENT