Dalai Lama accepts invite to attend SAfrica function via web

Dharamsala, Oct 7 (PTI) Dalai Lama has accepted the
invitation of Archbishop Desmond Tutu to participate via
videoconferencing in a live discussion after the exiled
Tibetan spiritual leader cancelled his visit to South Africa
due to its government's delay in issuing him visa.
Dalai Lama has accepted the proposal from Desmond Tutu to
have a worldwide live video conference on Saturday and he
shall register his presence through Internet, said Chhime
Rigzing, Secretary to the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama will address the inaugural Desmond Tutu
Peace Lecture at the University of the Western Cape through
the modern communication system on October 8 as part of Tutu's
80th birthday celebrations, he said.
Rigzing, a spokesman of the Tibetan government-in-exile
here, said the dialogue will be aired live on the world wide
web. "Dalai Lama has also sent a birthday video message to his
fellow Nobel Peace Laureate," he said.
The Tibetan spiritual leader was scheduled to visit South
Africa from October 6 to 14 on invitations by a number of
universities and organisations including Stellenbosch
University, the Tutu Center and the Mahatma Gandhi Trust to
give public talks, deliver lectures and to receive the Mahatma
Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation.
However, the leader called off his visit on October 4
saying that its government found it "inconvenient" to issue
visa to him and his entourage. PTI CORR
MNS