Tutu slams South Africa for barring Dalai Lama from attending Nobel peace prize winners' summit

Nobel Peace Laureate and Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu slammed the South African government for barring the Dalai Lama from attending a global summit of fellow prizewinners in Cape Town to avoid upsetting China.

According to News 24, breaking his silence as the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates appeared to be on the point of collapse, Tutu said he was ashamed to call "this lickspitle bunch" his government.

Tutu made the remarks after South Africa denied the Dalai Lama the permission to attend the global summit in an act of what he described as "kowtowing" to China.

The summit was scheduled to be held from 13 to 15 October to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the end of apartheid and the legacy of Nelson Mandela- the first South African president and Nobel peace prize winner.

Lashing out at the government, Tutu said that Mandela's heirs in the ruling African National Congress party under President Jacob Zuma had spat in the late leader's face.

The Dalai Lama row resulted in the event being cancelled after many Nobel laureates refused to attend the summit in wake of the disrespect shown to the Tibetan Buddhist monk, fellow laureate American Jody Williams said.

However, there was no immediate confirmation of the cancellation of the summit from the organisers in Rome, while the mayor of Cape Town said only that an announcement would be made on Thursday, the report said.