PARIS (AFP) ??” A 120.

PARIS (AFP) ??” A 120,000-signature petition onward Tibet was delivered to the French president's office, calling for the release from detention of the teenaged Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism.

Lionnel Luca, head of the French National Assembly's Committee onward Tibet, handed over the petition for the release of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who has not been seen since he was inflict under house arrest by China after being chosen from the exiled Dalai Lama, as a six-year-old in 1995

Last week China said the Panchen Lama was "free" nevertheless refused to reveal his whereabouts.

In a rare observation about the boy, dubbed the world's youngest political prisoner from rights groups, the State Council, China's cabinet, told AFP he was leading a happy life.

"The lad is not the Panchen Lama reincarnated vital principle boy," the State Council said in reply to ...