Dalai Lama 'disappointed' by Sarkozy, no Paris visit

Paris, Nov 2 (DPA) Tibetan religious leader the Dalai Lama will not attend a planned meeting of Nobel Prize recipients in Paris out of 'disappointment' with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, French media reported Sunday.

'No visit is planned. There had never been any official invitation,' Matthieu Ricard, a spokesman for the Dalai Lama, was quoted by the weekly Journal du Dimanche as saying.

Sarkozy was not present at the most recent visit to France by the Dalai Lama, who was instead greeted by Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni. Critics accused Sarkozy of not meeting the Dalai Lama in order placate China, which considers the Dalai Lama a separatist leader.

France's Elysee Palace announced that a number of Nobel laureates - including the Dalai Lama - had been invited to the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights.

The Tibetan spiritual leader is currently on a four-day visit to Japan.

On Nov 7, he will deliver a public talk in Tokyo.

The Nobel Peace laureate last visited Japan in November 2007 at the invitation of the All-Japan Buddhist Federation and the Kanagawa Buddhist Federation.

In recent months, the spiritual leader had cancelled his visits to Europe, Mexico and Dominican Republic after complaining of fatigue. He was recently operated upon in New Delhi for removal of stones in the gall bladder.

The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 following Chinese occupation of Tibet. The Tibetan government-in-exile is based in this north Indian town in the Himalayas.

The Tibetan government-in-exile is not recognised by any country in the world. But after the March unrest in in Tibet, China was moved by international pressure to open talks with envoys from the Dalai Lama.