A Chinese court in Lhasa has commuted the death sentences handed down to two Nepalese and three Tibetans convicted of smuggling weapons and ammunition. In Aug. 2004 the five men received the death penalty after being found guilty by the Xigaze Intermediate People’s Court in Tibet. Tuesday, state-run media said the Higher People’s Court of the Tibetan Autonomous Region in Lhasa lessened the sentences since all five had shown contrition for their acts. Xinhua reported one Nepali named Ananda had been given the death penalty with a two-year reprieve. The other man, Gyaljen, had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. A Tibetan named Qubzhag also received a two-year stay of execution while two other Tibetans, Celo and Lobsang Qoizhag, had their death penalties commuted to life terms. The Nepalese are suspected members of a Maoist-inspired communist guerilla group in the mountainous Himalayan kingdom sandwiched between China and India that has claimed more than 11,000 lives since the insurgency began. © Copyright 2005 by United Press International

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