BEIJING, Aug 24 (AFP) - A senior Tibetan religious leader jailed for leading the search for the reincarnated Panchen Lama against Beijing's wishes remains in jail despite his sentence having ended, a Tibetan monitoring group said Friday.
Although Chadrel Rinpoche's six-year term was due to expire on May 17, Tibetan officials said the 62-year-old Buddhist abbot remained in prison, the London-based Tibet Information Network (TIN) reported.
TIN was informed by a Polish delegation who had quizzed their hosts on the matter during a visit to Tibet earlier this month.
But Chinese authorities refused to reveal the whereabouts of Chadrel Rinpoche, abbot of the Tashilhunpo Monastery, the Panchen Lama's traditional seat, or information about his state of health, TIN said.
Beijing suspected Chadrel Rinpoche of colluding with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled supreme spiritual leader, in identifying the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in Tibet's Buddhist pantheon.
The search resulted in the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959, identifying a 12-year-old boy.
However, Beijing did not approve of the choice and jailed Chadrel Rinpoche after convicting him of "splitting the country" and "colluding with separatist forces abroad".
He is believed to have been held in a high-security prison in the southwestern Sichuan province, which neighbors Tibet.
"The admission that he is still in detention was made by Gyaltsen Norbu, former governor of Tibet, following repeated questioning by a Polish parliamentary delegation which visited Lhasa from August 8 to 10," TIN said.
The boy indentified as the Panchen Lama, Gendun Choekyi Nyima, disappeared along with his family from their home in May 1995. They are being held in "protective custody" at an undisclosed location.
China has refused to allow independent access to the boy, despite requests by Western governments. Beijing subsequently installed its own choice as Panchen Lama.
China sees Tibet as part of its territory and views the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, as a separatist leader seeking to "split" the country.
One reason why the Panchen Lama is so crucial in Tibetan religion -- and in Chinese-Tibetan relations -- is the fact that he is charged with selecting the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.