CHINESE SOLDIERS BUY SCARFS FROM A TIBETAN VENDOR IN LHASA, 1999-06-25 (photo)

Soldiers from China's People's Liberation Army buy scarfs from a Tibetan vendor at the Barkhor Street market in Lhasa June 24. The Barkhor Street market is essentially a pilgrim circuit which is followed clockwise round the periphery of the Jokhang Temple which is the spiritual heart of Lhasa. The World Bank tried on Thursday to defuse one of its most bitter disputes in years as it approved a $160 million loan to China that has angered its biggest shareholders and outraged Tibetan activists. The loan is to be used in part to resettle 58,000 poor Chinese farmers to an area where Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, was born. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the failed uprising by the Dalai Lama and his followers against the Chinese Rule. ASW/DL