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Dialogue, not war: Dalai Lama

SYDNEY May 25. The world had battled its way through a century of bloodshed and now had no choice but to seek a century of dialogue before violence became a way of life, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama said today.

The September 11 hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington, which killed almost 3,000 people, underscored the potential for violence which can evolve out of misunderstanding, hatred and resentment caused by perceived inequality, he said.

"When you have this kind of groundswell of resentment and suspicion, it also leads to a feeling of victimisation, inferiority... in some cases it is kept even for generations, boiling and then it becomes out of control," the Dalai Lama said. "We must pay full attention as a preventive measure, not by (using) guns, not by rigid systems. The 20th century has become like a century of bloodshed and now the 21st century should be a century of dialogue...talk, not fighting," he told a news conference.

Neglect of the causes of such violence would only condemn the world to repeat events like the September 11 attacks, which the United States blames on Osama bin Laden's militant Al-Qaeda network, and the violence which marked the 20th century, he said.

The Dalai Lama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, arrived in Australia a week ago on his first major overseas trip since he was released from hospital in February after treatment for a bowel infection. Revered by Tibetans as the reincarnation of a long line of Buddhist kings, he fled into exile in India in 1959, after China invaded his Himalayan home.

— Reuters

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