Dalai Lama urges allies to be prudent

The Dalai Lama warned Tibetan exile leaders today to be prudent in their plans or risk failure, after they said at a key conference they might push for independence for their homeland if China refuses to grant it autonomy soon.

The delegates ended their weeklong conference saying they had decided against pushing independence for now, and that they would maintain the Dalai Lama’s “middle way” – his push for autonomy through measured compromise that falls short of calling for independence.