Hundreds of Tibetans protest outside IOC headquarters

Hundreds of Tibetans are marching outside the Swiss headquarters of the International Olympic Committee, demanding freedom for their homeland as Beijing prepares to host the Winter Games

APTOPIX Switzerland China Olympics Protest (KEYSTONE / ANTHONY ANEX)

Hundreds of Tibetans marched Thursday outside the Swiss headquarters of the International Olympic Committee demanding freedom for their region as Beijing prepares to host the Winter Games.

Waving placards bearing messages like “Save Tibet” and “No More Bloody Games,” Tibetan expatriates from across Europe sought to send a message to China’s ruling Communist Party.

Behind a tiny police escort, demonstrators waving scores of Tibetan flags were joined by a handful of men in monk-like robes and about a dozen supporters of China’s Muslim Uyghur minority.

China doesn’t recognize the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile and accuses exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama of seeking to separate Tibet from China.