DATE=09/08/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=DALAI LAMA / WASHINGTON (S-O)

NUMBER=2-307271

BYLINE=PHUNTSOK TSERING

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTERNET=

VOICED AT: Unvoiced

INTRO: The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is visitng Washington. He was received Monday by the Capital Area Tibetan community and other Tibetan supporters. Phuntsok Tsering of the VOA Tibetan Service reports the Dalai Lama he will be in the capitial for three days.

TEXT: During his Washington visit, the Dalai Lama is expected to meet President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary State Colin Powell and other Administration officials.

This will be the Dalai Lama's first opportunity to meet with U-S leaders following the reestablishment of contact between his envoys and Chinese officials, after an impasse of nearly a decade.

The Dalai Lama also meets leaders of the Senate and House committees on foreign relations and gives a keynote address at a 20th anniversary event of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

At the invitation of the Washington National Cathedral, the Dalai Lama attends an inter-faith ceremony on the 2nd anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Earlier, the Dalai Lama visited San Francisco, where he received an honorary degree from the University of San Francisco. He also dedicated a house of worship for inter-religious harmony and world peace in the mid-Western city of Bloomington, Indiana.

Before returning to India on September 24th, the Dalai Lama also visits Boston and New York. (signed)

NEB/PT/FC