Tsaten Norbu, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, wrote International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch that his group “has no knowledge” of a letter threatening “serious bodily reprisals” against IOC members who support Beijing’s bid for the 2008 Summer Games.
The one-page typed letter, signed by a self-described radical faction of the Tibetan Youth Congress and faxed to IOC members around the world, as well as to IOC headquarters in Lausanne Switzerland, was turned over to Swiss police.
Norbu also said the group had “no role” in its dissemination. He suggested the letter was part of a Chinese bid to discredit his group’s peaceful campaign against the Beijing bid.
“We profoundly regret that IOC has given undue importance to a wired letter without authenticating with us the factual response”, he wrote.
“Our struggle is peaceful…there’s no history of violence in our protests”, Norbu told The Associated Press. “We are totally against Beijing hosting the Olympics, but no threatening letter was issued from any of our offices in the world”.
