Dalai Lama To Face Reporters, Meet Minnesota Tibetans

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The Dalai Lama meets with reporters and holds an audience with Tibetan Minnesotans on Saturday.

He holds a news conference in downtown Minneapolis, then heads to a Tibetan community event at the University in St. Thomas.

Organizers expect a crowd of about 2,000. Minnesota's Tibetan population is estimated at around 2,500 to 3,000.

A spokesman for the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota says he expects the Dalai Lama to update them on his plan to hand off political power to an elected prime minister of Tibet's government-in-exile.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner speaks Sunday at the University of Minnesota. He'll hold a private dialogue with students on Buddhism on Saturday.

Organizers say it's closed because several Chinese students have been invited who'd be hesitant to participate if it were open.

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