Foreign tourists will be barred from going to Tibet until the end of July, travel agents said Monday, the second time this year the troubled region has been closed to overseas visitors.

"At the moment we're not admitting foreign tourists," an employee at China Travel Service in the regional capital Lhasa told AFP by phone, adding the agency had received a notice saying this would be enforced until July 26.

A worker at the Tibet Youth Travel Service agency confirmed the ban, saying it begins on Tuesday and was linked to celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of China's rule over Tibet, reportedly scheduled for July.

The official Global Times newspaper quoted the Lhasa-based manager of a travel website as saying they would not accept tourists holding foreign passports until mid-August due to "safety concerns."

The regional tourism bureau refused to comment when contacted by AFP, and a spokesman for the Tibetan government said he was unaware of the situation.

Tensions run deep in Tibet, where many Tibetans accuse the government of trying to dilute their culture, and cite concern about what they view as increasing domination by China's majority Han ethnic group.

Disquiet spilled over into violent anti-government riots in Lhasa in March 2008, which then spread to neighbouring provinces with significant Tibetan populations.

In the wake of the 2008 unrest, foreign tourists were banned from travelling to the Himalayan region for more than 12 months.

In March this year, Tibet was once again closed to foreigners ahead of the third anniversary of the riots, but travel agencies said overseas visitors had been able to visit from April to June.

Even when foreigners are allowed in, authorities require them to obtain special permits -- in addition to Chinese visas -- and also travel in tour groups.

China, which says living standards in the region have improved markedly since it started ruling the region in 1951, has increased security in Tibetan areas since the 2008 unrest.

But reports of unrest still surface. One region in the southwestern province of Sichuan was hit by demonstrations earlier this year after a Tibetan monk self-immolated and died in an apparent anti-government protest.

earlier related report
Death rumour sparks days of China riots: reports
Hong Kong (AFP) June 13, 2011 - Hundreds of people rioted in southern China over the weekend, with the major city of Guangzhou hit by mass protests after rumors spread on the Internet that police beat a street hawker to death.

Hong Kong television on Monday showed scenes from the previous night of cars engulfed in flames and police out in force to quell rioting in the manufacturing hub of over 10 million.

On Sunday -- the third straight day of unrest -- hundreds of residents gathered along the main road in Xintang town, a denim garment district in the Guangzhou metropolitan area, before marching toward an upmarket residential complex.

Authorities formed a human barricade to defend the area, the South China Morning Post reported Monday.

But the crowd hurled bricks, rocks and bottles at local officials and police, The Standard newspaper reported, with some overturning police vehicles and setting them alight and others vandalising ATMs and police posts.

Armed police officers reportedly tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas and managed to temporarily restore order. But some protesters began hurling glass bottles and bricks at officers sent to clean up the scene.

At one point, the number of protesters swelled to over 1,000, with 25 arrested, The Standard said.

Police deployed over a thousand officers and mobilised military tanks in the teeming city located in China's manufacturing heartland, according to local reports.

The riots were reportedly sparked by online rumours that a man in the village was beaten to death and his pregnant wife manhandled during a police operation targeting street hawkers, the paper added.

But Tang Xuecai -- the rumoured victim -- appeared at a press conference held by the Zengcheng municipality government on Sunday morning, the report said.

Tang said his wife Wang Lianmei, 20, and their unborn baby girl "are doing very well", according to the paper.

On Monday morning, Guangzhou residents told AFP the violence had eased.

A woman staying at the Xinming Hotel said: "It is quite calm this morning."

"There is no-one around this morning. I heard from colleagues that it was quite crowded last night," a young man staying at Jufu Hotel said.

China sees thousands of protests and other public disturbances each year, often linked to anger over official corruption, government abuses and the illegal seizure of land for development.

Such incidents have been prominent in recent weeks with ethnic Mongols in north China protesting against the encroachment of grasslands by mining concerns, while in late May a disgruntled man killed four people in revenge bombings over property confiscation in the south of the country.

Two officials were meanwhile detained in central China after 1,500 protesters clashed with riot squads following the alleged death in police custody of a local legislator, state press said on Saturday.

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