> Undercover human rights organisations, CIA's Dalai Lama Org, US medias
> call for Olympic boycott in EU.
>
> Call for Olympic boycott rejected
> By Oana Lungescu
> BBC News, Brdo
>
> Britain and several other European Union countries have rejected calls
> for a boycott of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in
> August.
>
> The decision comes despite appeals from human rights organisations
> that leaders send a strong signal to China over its suppression of
> protests in Tibet.
>
> The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the EU should be
> engaging China on human rights.
>
> Tibet was added to the agenda of a two-day EU meeting in Slovenia.
>
> The addition was made at the last moment, in response to public
> concern in Europe over events in Tibet.
>
> Separated from politics
>
> Slovenia's Foreign Minister Dimitri Rupel, who is hosting the informal
> meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brdo, outside the capital
> Ljubljana, insisted that sports should be separated from politics.
>
> Some European leaders, including the Czech president and the Polish
> prime minister, have already made clear they will not attend the
> opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in August.
>
> Britain's foreign secretary called for consistent engagement with
> China
>
> But the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the
> German chancellor had not planned to go to Beijing, so there was
> nothing to cancel and no link to Tibet.
>
> One European leader who has decided to attend is the British Prime
> Minister, Gordon Brown, whose country will host the 2012 Olympic
> games.
>
> His Foreign Secretary Mr Miliband insisted this was not the time to
> announce a boycott:
>
> "'It's very important for all of us that the Olympic games go ahead
> successfully, because if you care about human rights in China, the
> last thing you want is to have the Olympic games spoilt or broken.
>
> Human rights
>
> "What we should be doing is engaging with the Chinese authorities in a
> free and frank and open and consistent way, which says that human
> rights are an issue every year, not just in an Olympic year.''
>
> Mr Rupel described Tibet as a difficult issue, but he said sports and
> politics should be kept separate.
>
> However, he called on Beijing to allow foreign diplomats and
> journalists access to Tibet.
>
> With more than four months to go before the opening ceremony of the
> Olympics, the EU will not take a formal decision on any possible
> boycott now.
>
> But many will wait and see what China does next.