Beijing, Apr 14: Chinese forces found firearms hidden throughout a Tibetan temple in an ethnic Tibetan area of southwestern China which has been the scene of anti-Chinese riots in recent weeks, state television said.

And Chinese police detained five air passengers, possibly Tibetans, whose "suspicious remarks" prompted the return of their flight half an hour after take-off from the southern city of Shenzhen, a newspaper reported.

Police, responding to what they said was a tip-off from the public, found 30 firearms in the monastery in Aba prefecture of Sichuan province last month, state television said in a report, a transcript of which was posted on its Web site (www.cctv.com).

"At the time these firearms were scattered around, some were where the monks keep the scriptures," policeman Lan Bo told the programme. "They were modified semi-automatic weapons."

Aba has seen confrontations between police and Tibetan protesters who, along with Tibetans in Tibet proper, have been protesting against China's rule and calling for the return of the exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama.

Protesters have also disrupted the global torch relay for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but the torch passed through Tanzania's commercial capital of Dar Es Salaam peacefully on Sunday.

The official People's Daily newspaper accused Western media of distorting protests against the relay and playing up their scale. It also lashed out at the European Parliament for failing to condemn the "Dalai clique", which China accuses of being behind March 14 riots in Lhasa in which it says 19 people were killed. Exiled Tibetans give a far higher death toll.

"People cannot help but ask: the European Parliament always brags about human rights and freedom, so why does it turn a deaf ear to the serious human rights abuse of attacks on and killings of innocent people in Tibet?"