The young high ranking Tibetan Lama, who 15 months ago escaped to India, has spoken for the first time about his flight and his motive for leaving his homeland.

The Karmapa Lama, now 16, told a news conference at the monastery in northern India - where he now lives - that his decision to escape had been entirely his own.

He appealed to be allowed to go to Sikkim, the sensitive state in the north east of India, where the last Karmapa had established his seat in exile.

The teenage Lama, who is the third most important figure in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy, surfaced in Dharmsala, the Dalai Lama's exiled headquarters, in January last year.

His escape from Tibet immediately caught the world's attention.

It was compared to the Dalai Lama's 40 years earlier after the Chinese had moved into Tibet, and was seen as a significant blow for China.

Exhausting flight

Now granted refugee status in India, the Karmapa Lama decided it was time to give his own account of his escape.

He lived in a normally closely guarded monastery in Tibet.

He says that after announcing that he was entering a strict retreat, he and his attendants climbed out of his room under cover of darkness, jumped to the ground, and left in a jeep by a side road.

They then drove day and night, taking back routes to avoid check posts and army camps until they eventually reached Mustang in Nepal.

From there they continued on foot and horseback over several passes, which the Karmapa says, was extremely difficult and exhausting and then the journey to Dharmsala was completed by helicopter, train and a rented car.

Sensitive issue

Some doubted at the time that the escape was what it seemed to be because he was so closely watched. It was suggested that there might have been Chinese collusion.

Today the Karmapa said in his prepared statement at the news conference:

"The decision to leave my homeland, monastery, monks, parents, family and the Tibetan people was entirely my own - no one told me to go and no one asked me to come to India."

India has not yet given him permission to take up the seat of his sect of Tibetan Buddhism at Rumtek monastery in the state of Sikkim.

Sikkim is a sensitive issue between India and China because Beijing does not accept it as part of India and India's handling of the Karmapa Lama's presence here as been marked by caution.

But the Karmapa Lama said that for him going to Rumtek would be like returning home to continue the activities of his predecessor. He considered it extremely important.

He said that like his predecessors he would not engage in political activity but he fully supported the Dalai Lama's stand on the future of Tibet

This was not your average press conference. The setting was a high, bright, airy Buddhist prayer hall, dominated by the large saffron-clad image of a sitting Buddha. Below the image was a large, smiling photograph of the Dalai Lama. Below this photograph was an empty throne of modest size. Ceiling fans whirled, while a breeze soughed through the pines on the mountainside.

Inside, 100 international journalists were lulled to a state of calm that might have been mistaken for meditation. Then with little fuss, the teenager we had been waiting for was in place on the throne.

He was a tall, muscular, moon-faced young man in maroon robes, with a shadow of stubble on his shaven scalp and one eye a little larger than the other as someone put it, one was for looking at the outside world and the other for looking in.

On 28 December 1999, this youth climbed out of a monastery window in Tibet, jumped to the ground and clambered into a waiting jeep. Days later he suddenly turned up in the township of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, northern India, where the Dalai Lama heads Tibet's government-in-exile. The term thunderbolt best describes the effect of his arrival.

After 15 months, the most powerful teenager in the world was about to break his silence. Yesterday, the Karmapa the "incarnated Buddha", who is the most revered lama outside Tibet after the Dalai Lama himself finally spoke.

Answering journalists' questions, he firmly rejected the Chinese interpretation of his departure from Tibet, and admitted he was "confused" by India's refusal to let him visit his sect's headquarters in the Indian state of Sikkim. He also said he had no information about the fate of his parents since his departure. "I do not plan to return to Tibet until the Dalai Lama does, but I will go back with him," he added.

Extraordinarily composed for his tender years, the Buddhist priest whose full title is His Holiness the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje has stayed in a monastic university near the base of Tibet's government-in-exile in a state of virtual purdah since his arrival in Dharamsala on 5 January 2000. The reason was that although he promptly applied for political asylum, it took India 13 months to decide to grant it.

He was given refugee status in February, and allowed within limits to travel. After a pilgrimage to the holy sites of Buddhism in India, including the site of Buddha's enlightenment, he invited the world's press to his "temporary home" to have a look at him.

What we saw yesterday was not merely the incarnation of an august lama but an impressively intelligent and self- assured young man, whose departure from Tibet must have plunged the Chinese authorities into profound gloom about the prospects of killing off the Tibetan freedom movement any moment now.

Since his arrival in India, the media here has repeatedly sniped at him, accusing him of being a stooge of the Chinese he is the sole high lama to have been recognised both by the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government a fake Karmapa, and a puppet in a Byzantine diplomatic game.

The Karmapa will have silenced most of those critics yesterday. His replies were measured, judicious, sensible. But he then showed a sudden flash of real anger and disdain. A Tibetan questioner asked him to comment on the Chinese official interpretation of his departure. Through a Canadian interpreter, he said: "It is true that I left a letter behind, but as I wrote it I know what I wrote and what I did not write. I said, I left because although I have for a long time requested permission to travel internationally, I was not given permission. I did not mention in the letter that I desired to bring back the black hat [a symbol of his position]. The only purpose that would be served by bringing the black hat to China would be to place it on [Chinese President] Jiang Zemin's head."

A clearer expression of the Karmapa's alienation from the Chinese, who gave his lama-hood their stamp of approval, is hard to imagine. "I was treated as someone very special. For example, when I was taken on a tour of China and taken to Beijing, I was very well treated. But I came to suspect that there might have been a plan to use me to separate the people of Tibet from the Dalai Lama," he said.

The most important monastery of his order the Kagyu sect outside Tibet is at Rumtek in Sikkim, a former independent Himalayan state whose accession to India has not been recognised by China. His new status as a refugee allows him to travel at large in India but not to Sikkim, the one place he has real reason to visit and indeed remain.

The Karmapa's dramatic arrival in India at the beginning of last year was the biggest thing to hit Tibet-watchers since the Chinese spirited the Panchen Lama away in 1995.

The Karmapa began yesterday's press conference by reading out a prepared account of his escape. How, at 10.30pm on 28 December 1999, he and his attendant "slowly climbed down from my room" in Tsurphu Monastery, got into a waiting off-road vehicle and drove towards western Tibet.

He said: "Few travellers used this road, and the checkposts were not so strictly guarded. By taking back roads through hills and valleys, we avoided checkposts and two army camps.

"Through the compassion of the Buddha and the blessings of my teachers, we were not discovered, and arrived in Mustang, Nepal, on the morning of 30 December."

Despite the promise that the Karmapa's account would answer all questions about his escape, it was thin on detail. The feeling persists that the full story remains untold.

The Karmapa was identified in eastern Tibet almost exactly nine years ago, the child of nomadic parents, and quickly endorsed by the Dalai Lama.

Subsequently he was also recognised as the true reincarnation by the Chinese government, the first time such a thing had happened since 1959. Until he fled, the Karmapa remained China's best hope of weaning Tibet's devout Buddhists away from their support for the Dalai Lama.

But as the striking youth made clear yesterday, he gradually became suspicious of their plans for him. The Karmapa was at pains to deny political aspirations and to underscore his total backing for the Dalai Lama.

"None of the previous Karmapas engaged in political activity," the Karmapa said, "so I will emulate my predecessors in this regard."

In response to a question asking what he would do should the Dalai Lama suddenly die, he said: "His Holiness the Dalai Lama is not old [he is aged 65] and is very healthy. I pray constantly for his longevity, and I am confident he will remain among us for a long time. During that time there may be political changes in China itself."

If the Dalai Lama did pass on then at least Tibetans and their supporters, on the strength of yesterday's performance, would know exactly where to turn.

SIDBHARI, India, April 27 (AFP) - The teenaged Karmapa Lama, one of the highest ranking figures in Tibetan Buddhism, gave his first public account Friday of his clandestine escape by foot, horse, jeep and helicopter from China to India.

In a written statement issued before his first ever press conference, the 16-year-old Karmapa recounted how he and unidentified "companions" had planned his flight from the Tibetan capital Lhasa in 1999 "using various stories to cover our true activities."

Once the plan was in place, the Karmapa said he told the Chinese authorities he was entering a strict, traditional retreat -- a ruse that gave him several days headstart before his absence was detected.

"On December 28, at around 10:30 at night, I climbed down from my room and jumped to the ground where a jeep was waiting nearby. We left immediately," he said.

The Karmapa went on to recount how he travelled by a variety of means over the Himalayas, before finally arriving in Dharamsala in northern India -- the seat of the Dalai Lama and his exiled government -- on January 5, last year.

Recognised by both the Dalai Lama and Beijing as the 17th Karmapa, his escape was a major embarassment for China, which had regularly promoted him on television as a patriotic model for Tibetan Buddhists.

At the beginning of his flight to freedom, the Karmapa said he and his companions travelled to western Tibet along a little used route so as to avoid Chinese army checkpoints.

"Driving day and night, we stopped only to change drivers," he said.

"Through the power of my prayers to the Buddha and though his compassion we were not discovered and arrived in Mustang, Nepal on the morning of December 30."

The journey continued on foot and horseback, high into the Himalayan foothills.

"This was extremely difficult and exhausting, due to the poor and often dangerous conditions of the passes and the freezing cold weather," he said.

"During this time I was tired and not very well physically."

After reaching the mountainous Nepalese district of Manang, "a close friend" helped the Karmapa's group hire a helicopter and fly to Nagarkot, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Kathmandu.

From there they drove across the border into the Indian state of Bihar, where they continued by train through Lucknow and New Delhi, before finally arriving in Dharamsala on January 5.

"I went straight to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama -- the very embodiment of compassion -- and he received me with great love and affection," he said.

"My joy knew no bounds."

Many Tibetan exiles regard the Karmapa's escape as a kind of 'second coming' because it mirrored the Dalai Lama's own flight into exile in 1959, following a failed uprising against Tibetan rule.

Although the Karmapa's account gave no specific reason for his decision to leave Tibet, informed sources said he had grown increasingly alarmed by China's restrictiions on religious practises.

India's granting of refugee status to the Karmapa on February 2 drew a sharp warning from Beijing not to allow him to engage in anti-China activities.

SIDBHARI, India, April 27 (AFP) - The Karmapa Lama, head of one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, appealed to the Indian authorities Friday to let him travel to the seat of his Kagyu sect in the northeastern state of Sikkim.

In his first press conference since fleeing Tibet for India more than one year ago, the 16-year-old Karmapa said his request was supported by the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan government in exile and Tibetan people "from all over the world."

India has so far barred the Karmapa from travelling to the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim because of a bitter dispute within the Kagyu sect over the identity of the 17th Karmapa.

A rival claimant to the title, supported by one of the four powerful Rumtek regents, is 18-year-old Trinley Thaye Dorje, who mainly lives at a monastery in Kalimpong, near Sikkim.

The dispute, fuelled by the immense wealth of the Kagyu sect, boiled over into violence in the early 1990s, when India had to send troops to Rumtek to pacify the quarreling factions.

"From my point of view, going to the Rumtek monastery would be like returning home to continue the activities of my predecessor," the Karmapa said, referring to the 16th Karmapa Lama, who founded Rumtek in exile in the 1960s and died in 1981.

"That is why I consider it so important," he said, adding that he had submitted a formal application to the Indian authorities.

"I am fully confident that I will be able to go there," he told reporters in Sidbhari, some 40 kilometers (27 miles) south of the northern Indian hill station of Dharamsala.

Indias granted refugee status to the Karmapa on February 2.

"In general, I am allowed to travel across the length and breadth of the country, but I may not go to Sikkim which is confusing to me," he said.

In the meantime, the Karmapa said he was receiving from two Rumtek egents -- Situ Rinpoche and Gyaltsap Rinpoche -- "all the empowerment and transmission of the Kagyu lineage that is possible under these present circumstances."

SIDBHARI, India, April 27 (AFP) - The teenaged Karmapa Lama, one of the highest ranking figures in Tibetan Buddhism, gave his full backing Friday to the Tibetan freedom movement led by the Dalai Lama, but ruled out a political role for himself.

The 16-year-old Karmapa, who made a dramatic escape from Tibet to India little more than a year ago, also said he would never return unless it was in the company of the Dalai Lama -- in Indian exile since 1959.

"Concerning the future path of Tibet and the Tibetan people, I endorse and fully support everything that His Holiness the 16th Dalai Lama stands for," the Karmapa said in his first press conference since arriving January 5 last year in the nearby Indian hill station of Dharamsala -- seat of the Dalai Lama's exiled government.

"Embodying universal love, compassion and non-violence, he is the supreme leader of Tibet and the champion of world peace and human rights," he said.

While recognising his duty to assist the Dalai Lama in protecting Tibetan culture and religion, the Karmapa indicated that he had no political aspirations of his own.

"In the past, the Karmapas did not engage in political activity and I can do nothing but follow in their footsteps," he said.

Recognised by both the Dalai Lama and Beijing as the 17th Karmapa, his escape was a major embarrassment for China, which had regularly promoted him on television as a patriotic model for Tibetan Buddhists.

India granted the Karmapa refugee status in February this year.

"Having come to India as a refugee and having received the status of a refugee, I will only go back to China with his Holiness the Dalai Lama," he said.

As the head of the powerful Kagyu sect, which has its seat at the Rumtek monastery in the northeastern state of Sikkim, the Karmapa is viewed by some as the third highest ranking lama in Tibetan Buddhism.

When the news of his escape broke, the Chinese authorities said he had left a note, saying he had only left temporarily to collect the "black hat" -- the 'crown' of the Kagyu sect -- and various sacred musical instruments.

At Friday's press conference, the Karmapa ridiculed the Chinese version.

"I said in the letter that I had asked for permission to travel internationally and not received it," he said.

"I did not mention the black hat and musical instruments. Why would I want to bring them back from India to China? The only reason I would want to do that would be to place the hat on (Chinese President) Jiang Zemin's head."

The Karmapa's refusal of a political role is significant, as many observers had tagged him as a possible successor to the 65-year-old Dalai Lama as leader of the Tibetan movement.

Confident and smiling, the Karmapa spoke through an interpreter during the press conference in Gyuto Ramoche Tantric Monastery in Sidbhari, some 40 kilometers (27 miles) south of Dharamsala.

The monastery was under tight security, organised by his personal bodyguards and Indian security personnel, who frisked journalists before the event.

The Karmapa appealed to the Indian authorities to let him travel to the seat of his Kagyu sect at Rumtek.

India has so far barred such a move because of a bitter dispute within the Kagyu school, which has a rival claimant to the Karmapa title -- supported by one of the four powerful Rumtek regents.

The dispute, fuelled by the immense wealth of the Kagyu sect, boiled over into violence in the early 1990s, when India had to send troops to Rumtek to pacify the quarreling factions.

"From my point of view, going to the Rumtek monastery would be like returning home to continue the activities of my predecessor," the Karmapa said, referring to the 16th Karmapa Lama, who founded Rumtek in exile in the 1960s and died in 1981.

AFTER HIS dramatic escape to India over an year ago, the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje on Friday revealed that China wanted to use him against the Dalai Lama to divide the Tibetan community. He expressed strong hope of getting permission from New Delhi to visit the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim to continue the activities of his predecessor.

In his first formal interview to mediapersons from India and abroad, the Karmapa, when asked about China 'rearing' him as a patriot and the role Beijing wanted him to play, said, "Indeed, I was treated by China like someone very special. But, I had suspected that there might have been a plan to use me to alienate people in Tibet from the Dalai Lama."

He expressed confidence that he would be able to go to Rumtek since Sikkim, where this monastery is situated, is an Indian state. "From my point of view, going to Rumtek would be like returning home, to continue the activities of my predecessor," said the boy monk, who had arrived at Dharamsala, the seat of the Dalai Lama, on January 5 last year.

The head of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism said generally he was free to travel within the country. But, he said, he could not go to Rumtek and Sherabling monastery in Beed and in Kangra.

He said he would not engage himself in political activity of any kind.

SIDBHARI, India (AP) - In his first public comments since fleeing Tibet, a teen-age monk said Friday he will someday return home with the exiled Dalai Lama.

``I do not plan to return to Tibet until His Holiness the Dalai Lama does, but I will go back with him,'' said Ugyen Thinley Dorje, the 17th Karmapa.

The 15-year-old is one of the highest-ranking monks in Tibetan Buddhism, and the only senior lama to be recognized by both China and the Dalai Lama, the supreme leader of Tibetan Buddhists.

His critics and senior Indian security officials maintain he is an agent of the Chinese government, speculation that has been criticized by the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed 1959 rebellion against Chinese rule.

The Karmapa arrived in Dharmsala, the northern Indian home of the Tibetan government-in-exile, in January 2000 after an 875-mile journey over the Himalayas. Indian officials have said his escape was aided by Chinese authorities.

The Karmapa, however, denied that his escape was influenced by anyone.

``The decision to leave my homeland, monastery, monks, parents, family, and the Tibetan people was entirely my own. No one told me to go and no one asked me to come,'' he said in a statement issued ahead of the news conference.

The Karmapa said China might have tried to use him to create a rift between the Dalai Lama and his followers.

``It is said that in a sense the government of China was planning to make use of me. I was certainly treated as someone very special ... but I came to suspect that there might have been a plan to use me to separate the people within Tibet from the Dalai Lama.''

He also said he didn't know the whereabouts of his parents, who are reportedly in the Chinese government's custody. ``I don't know the precise details of their circumstances,'' the Karmapa said.

He added that he prayed for them every day.

The teen-ager spent 13 months restricted to monasteries near Dharmsala until Indian officials granted him refugee status last month.

The Karmapa heads the Karma Kagyu sect and is considered by his followers to be the reincarnation of his predecessor.

The 16th Karmapa brought his crown with him when he fled Chinese-ruled Tibet in 1959 and deposited it in his monastery at Rumtek, in what was then the Buddhist kingdom of Sikkim. The previous Karmapa died in 1981.

The 17th Karmapa said he has urged Indian authorities to let him travel abroad.

``I am also confident that just as my predecessor did, I will be able to travel abroad to meet my numerous disciples,'' the teen-ager said. ``I have submitted an application to the proper authorities.''

He said he was not going to engage in any political activity.

``I am preparing for my life's work: to teach and study Buddhism and to encourage compassion and wisdom within the hearts of all beings,'' he said.