A Tibetan exiles leader was detained by Nepal police after holding a news conference to deny allegations of involvement in a case involving false passports, campaigners said Saturday.

Thinlay Lama, 55, head of the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office, was held for eight hours on Friday following the conference, supporters said.

The briefing was called by the group to deny allegations it had been involved in a case involving two Tibetans who were arrested on accusations of attempting to travel to the United States from Nepal on false passports.

Kedar Rijal, the chief of Kathmandu Police, said Lama had been questioned about the passport case and later released.

But the International Campaign for Tibet said in a statement that Lama's detention came amid "an atmosphere of continued insecurity for Tibetans due to the Chinese governments influence on the Nepalese authorities."

Thousands of Tibetan refugees fled over the border into Nepal after the March 10, 1959 uprising, which forced their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama into exile.

But in recent years Nepal, which is home to around 20,000 Tibetans, has come under intense pressure from Beijing over the exiles, and has repeatedly said it will not tolerate what it calls "anti-China activities".

Rights groups have frequently criticised the treatment of Tibetans by Nepalese authorities, and last month Tibetans were prevented from celebrating the 76th birthday of the Dalai Lama.

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