October 16, 2008	Thursday	Shawwal 16, 1429

BEIJING, Oct 15: Eight monks convicted of staging a bomb attack in Tibet at the height of anti-China protests nearly seven months ago have been sentenced to prison, one of them for life, a judge said on Wednesday.

“They were convicted of causing the explosion at the government building of Xiangpi township,” Zhang Weilai, a judge at Chamdo Intermediate Court.

Xiangpi, or Gyanbe in Tibetan, is over 1,000 kilometres east of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, where violence erupted on March 14 following four days of peaceful protests against Chinese rule of the Himalayan region.

Zhang said one of the monks was sentenced to life in jail, but declined to say what jail terms the other seven received.

Other than saying the monks did not appeal, Zhang gave no other details.—AFP