PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy held talks Saturday with a Buddhist monk close to the Dalai Lama to discuss "a range of options", the Elysee Palace confirmed.
As a growing number of world leaders indicated they would not be attending the August opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing, and the global torch procession became mired in protests, the two men looked at ways of bringing the Tibetan spiritual leader and the Chinese authorities together.
"The president was very concerned that a dialogue should be opened and that the question of Tibet be resolved in a satisfactory manner," Ricard said after the discussions.
Ricard stressed he was not mandated to speak on behalf of the Dalai Lama, but met the president in order to "impartially and sincerely" bear witness to what he said were 192 deaths and 2,300 arrests in the current stand-off in Tibet.
Sarkozy "put the focus on the credibility of the information coming out on behalf of the Tibetans," Ricard added.
The Elysee confirmed the meeting took place, without giving further details.
"Various options were discussed, but I do not think that it's up to me to reveal their contents," Ricard added.
But he mentioned the idea floated by French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, of having the Dalai Lama meet all of the EU's foreign ministers.
Ricard, who lives in a monastery in Nepal, is the Dalai Lama's French translator.
Sarkozy has already linked his own appearance at the Olympic Games opening ceremony to progress on China's human rights record in Tibet. France will be holding the rotating presidency of the EU at the time of the Beijing Olympics.
The torch itself came under attack in Paris and in London whilst on the European leg of its global journey to China from pro-Tibet protestors.
"I have the hope that something can move -- for the first time in a long time," Ricard, son of the French philosopher and writer Jean-Francois Revel, added.
Ricard dismissed as "the usual rhetoric" remarks made by the Chinese President Hu Jintao Saturday, who said the obstacles to talks were the fault of the Dalai Lama.
"The Dalai Lama is only asking for one thing, and that is to meet the president and the prime minister for talks without any preconditions," he said.
The Beijing authorities accuse the Dalai Lama of fermenting the protests which began on March 10 in the Tibetan capital, Lhassa.
China disputes the Tibetan death toll, saying the unrest killed 18 civilians and two police officers.
Both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President George W. Bush have met the Dalai Lama in the past year -- much to the displeasure of Beijing.
alm/mat/mb
04/12/2008 16:16 GMT