Kathmandu, Nepal

An unidentified Tibetan monk set himself on fire Thursday morning at the Boudhanath stupa, a religious site on the outskirts of Kathmandu that is heavily populated by Tibetan immigrants.

Since March, at least 11 Tibetan monks and nuns have committed self-immolation in southwest China, protesting the Chinese government crackdown in Tibet and demanding religious and political freedom.

The monk, believed to 30 years old, shouted slogans against China and poured kerosene on himself before igniting the fuel, police said.

Durbus Tamang, 25, a local security guard, told reporters that friends helped put out the fire. The monk was rushed a local hospital where doctors said he was out of danger.

Phayul.com, a pro-Tibetan website, cited the International Tibet Network (ITN) as saying the monk is safe but with burns on his left arm. The same source told ITN that the police found nothing at the scene upon their arrival. They interrogated local Tibetans about the monk and where he had been taken but everybody refused to speak to the police.

ITN said they are not sure if anyone had been able to capture pictures of the incident. "Publication of a recognizable photograph of the monk would amount to revealing his identity to the Nepalese police. Hence, the fear of exposing the monk's identity seems to have prevented from publishing his photograph," said Phayul.com.

Nepal is home to around 20,000 exiled Tibetans. The exiled community has intensified their anti-China protest in Nepal in the last few years amid stepped-up pressure on the government from Beijing to halt such activities.

During a recent visit by a Chinese delegation led by Liu Qi, a member of the politburo of the Communist Party of China, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai underlined Nepal's "one-China policy" that views Tibet as an integral part of China. He made it clear that Nepal would not allow any activity directed against the northern neighbor on its soil.

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