BEIJING, CHINA - CHINESE officials have declared a 'people's war' of security and propaganda to enforce order in Tibet and attack support for the exiled Dalai Lama after protests and looting racked the regional capital Lhasa.

Residents of the remote city high in the Himalayas said on Sunday that anti-riot troops held the streets and were closely checking Tibetan homes.

Two days ago Tibetan protesters - some of them in Buddhist monks' clothes and some yelling pro-independence slogans - trashed shops and government offices and wielded stones and knives against police. China has said at least 10 innocent civilians died, mostly in fires lit by rioters.

The convulsion of Tibetan anger at the Chinese presence in the region came after days of peaceful protests by monks and was a sharp blow to Beijing's preparations for the Olympic Games in August, when the government wants to showcase China's prosperity and unity.

Chinese authorities have now signalled a sweeping campaign to redouble security in the region and attack public support for the Dalai Lama.

'This grave incident of fighting, wrecking, looting and burning was meticulously planned by reactionary separatist forces here and abroad, and its goal was Tibetan independence,' a Saturday meeting of senior regional and security officials announced, according to the official Tibet Daily on Sunday.

'Fight a people's war to oppose separatism and protect stability ... expose and condemn the malicious actions of these forces and expose the hideous face of the Dalai clique to broad daylight.'

The meeting was attended by Tibet's hardline Communist Party boss, Mr Zhang Qingli, and senior central government security officials, and it strengthens signs that China has no patience with international calls for a lenient response to the riots.

Authorities have already set an ultimatum to those who joined the riots, urging them to hand themselves into police by Monday midnight and gain possible clemency, or face harsh punishment.

But international pressure has mounted on Beijing to show restraint. Australia, the United States and Europe have urged China to find a peaceful outcome.

Lhasa residents contacted by telephone, including some who spoke relatively freely a day or two ago, were frightened and reluctant to say much even anonymously.

'There are police checking our homes and handing out warnings,' said a shopkeeper who lives near the old Tibetan part of Lhasa that saw torrid rioting. 'Now is not the time to talk.'

The Dalai Lama earlier released a statement urging China not to use 'brute force' against protests, and his representatives have said the charge that they organised the violent protests was ridiculous.

The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India after a failed uprising against Communist rule in 1959. He has said he only wants greater autonomy for Tibet. To the great majority of Buddhist Tibetans, he remains a powerful and venerated figure. -- REUTERS