The blitz will involve both security and propaganda campaigns to counter the message of the exiled Buddhist spiritual leader, the Tibetan Daily reported.

The call was made during an emergency meeting of Tibetan political and security chiefs on Saturday, the report said, following deadly protests a day earlier against China's 58-year rule of Himalayan region.

"This grave outburst of fighting, destruction, and burning was planned by reactionary separatist forces both within and outside our borders to smash the social order with the ultimate goal of an independent Tibet," a statement from the meeting said.

"We must wage a people's war to beat splittism and expose and condemn the malicious acts of these hostile forces and expose the hideous face of the Dalai Lama group to the light of day."

The Tibetan capital of Lhasa remained tense on Sunday as a heavy security presence was maintained across the city following the riots that China's state-run press said left 10 people dead.

Tibet's government-in-exile in India said Saturday about 30 people had been confirmed killed and it had received unconfirmed reports of as many as 100 fatalities.

The unrest first erupted early last week when Buddhist monks led demonstrations to mark the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule that forced the Dalai Lama into exile.

Eyewitnesses reports have said protesters were chanting support for independence and the Dalai Lama, who remains revered by the Tibetan Buddhist faithful.

Authorities plan to attack this support with a propaganda push, the Tibetan Daily said.

"We must firmly guide public opinion in the correct direction... to let all ethnic minorities understand the truth as soon as possible," it said.

The report did not specify where the meeting took place or who was present. However, top officials from Tibet and Lhasa city are currently in Beijing for the annual parliamentary session.

The Dalai Lama insists he does not want independence for his homeland, but greater cultural autonomy and an end to repression.

earlier related report
Repeated gunfire in Lhasa amid huge security build-up: tourists
Repeated gunfire could be heard in Lhasa on Saturday amid a huge security build-up by Chinese forces there, two foreign tourists said here Sunday after flying out of the Tibetan capital.

"I heard muffled gunshot fire. There was no question about it," Gerald Flint, a former US marine who runs a medical non-government organisation, told reporters at Chengdu airport.

The unrest in Lhasa, which began last week, is the biggest challenge to China's rule of Tibet in nearly two decades.

China's state-run media said 10 people were killed in rioting on Friday. The Tibetan government-in-exile said on Sunday that 80 people had been "confirmed" killed in the unrest.

Flint said security forces poured into Lhasa on Saturday but that there was still "chaos" on the streets.

"What was clear... there was a real control of movement of people. Soldiers on every corner, military with full combat gear on. Loads of trucks. The military was really moving in there heavily," he said.

He said that during the day on Saturday, "we could start hearing more explosions from the afternoon into the night".

Asked if he had heard explosions or gunfire, he said: "It was a mixture of both."

Chelsea Cockett, 19, an American college student, said she had heard gunfire on Saturday, as well as on Friday.

Cockett, who was travelling in Tibet with her parents and had only arrived in Lhasa on Friday afternoon, said security forces kept them confined to their hotel on the outskirts of the city.

"There was military surrounding (the hotel) and they wouldn't let us leave... we couldn't leave and there was gunfire. We didn't know what was happening," she said.

"Last night, especially, it was really bad."

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