Peace conference postponed after Dalai Lama row

Organizers of an international peace conference in Johannesburg, South Africa postponed the event Tuesday after South African government refused Dalai Lama a visa. Announcing the postponement at a news conference Tuesday, Irvin Khosa, chairman of the South African football league, did not offer an explanation for the delay, CNN reported.A presidential spokesman had said earlier that the Dalai Lama - Tibet´s spiritual leader and a Nobel Laureate - did not receive a visa because it was not in South Africa´s interest for him to attend. South Africa thinks that, if the Dalai Lama attended the conference, the focus would shift away from the 2010 World Cup -- the global soccer championship it will host next year."We cannot allow focus to shift to China and Tibet," said presidential spokesman Thabo Masebe quoted by CNN as saying. He added that South Africa has gained much from its trading relationship with China.Khosa made the announcement at a news conference also attended by Chief Mandla Mandela, grandson of former South African President Nelson Mandela. Mandla Mandela said it was a sad day for the country´s democracy and the African continent that the South African government had denied the Dalai Lama a visa.South Africa should not succumb to international pressure, Mandela said.A representative of the Dalai Lama told CNN that he was not surprised by the visa refusal. The Tibetan government in exile thinks that China has pressured many countries to refuse a visit by the Dalai Lama, according to Chhime Chhoekyapa, an aide in Dharamsala, India.