Tibetan Dalai Lama arrives in Prague, meets Havel

Prague - The Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, arrived in Prague for a three-day visit this morning at the invitation of former Czech president Vaclav Havel and he met Havel for an hour, Oldrich Cerny, head of the Forum 2000 foundation, said today.
The foundation is organising the Dalai Lama´s stay in Prague.
Havel thanked the Dalai Lama, his long-term friend, for arriving in the country where people love him but politicians fear him a bit, Cerny said.
The Dalai Lama told reporters when leaving the meeting that he had asked Havel to live for another ten years.
"It was primarily a meeting of two old friends and it took place in this spirit," Cerny said.
The Dalai Lama has met Havel, a well-known human rights advocate, in Prague several times, last time at a conference on the state of democracy in Asia two years ago.
This time the Dalai Lama arrived on the occasion of the Human Rights Day today.

Havel, who apparently suffered from health troubles, received a white shawl and a golden wheel, the symbol of a spiritual change, protection and the ability to overcome obstacles, from the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama said it was a great honour to him to meet his long-term friend. Havel is not only his personal friend but he considers him a friend and leader of the free world who always sides with people facing problems or being oppressed, the Dalai Lama stressed.
He Lama informed Havel about his summer decision to give up the political and administrative power, Cerny said.
It occurred formally on August 8 when the Dalai Lama handed over his powers to the democratically elected representatives of the Tibetan exile.
Cerny explained Havel´s words about Czech politicians slightly fearing the Dalai Lama by the strengthening of China´s power position in the past years since the Dalai Lama´s previous visit to the Czech Republic.
The Dalai Lama will not meet any active Czech politicians during his stay.
Within his three-day programme in Prague, the Dalai Lama is to meet Havel and they both should participate in a panel debate on China held at Charles University on Sunday.
The participants will, among others, touch upon the stances of the imprisoned Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner and dissident Liu Xiaobo.
The debate will also be attended by Iranian Peace Nobel Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, the last living co-author of Universal Declaration of Human Rights Stephane Hessel, from France, and Chinese dissident Yang Jianli.
The Dalai Lama will also give a public lecture entitled "In Search for Happiness in Uncertain World" in Prague's Congress Centre. The proceeds from the event will be donated to a Tibetan school.
source credit: //www.ceskenoviny.cz/news