China says Dalai Lama rewarding self-immolators with money

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese official accused exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Friday of providing money to encourage people to set themselves on fire, and said they had evidence to prove the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was instigating the self-immolations.

More than 100 Tibetans have set themselves alight in protest against Chinese rule since 2009, mostly in heavily Tibetan areas of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces rather than in what China terms the Tibet Autonomous Region. Most have died.