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Tibet media ban damages Beijing's cause

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With an air of tension and uncertainty still gripping Lhasa, the political fallout of the Tibet riots on the Olympic Games is too early to tell.

Scenes of unrest in the Himalayan city, however, have already cast a long shadow over the Games.

This is despite the fact it still looks unlikely the Chinese crackdown in Tibet might trigger a groundswell of calls from foreign governments and athletes for the boycott of the Games.

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Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, has made it clear repeatedly he is opposed to the idea of boycotting the Summer Olympics, saying it would penalise athletes.

However sympathetic they are to the cause of the Tibetan government-in-exile, western governments have been extremely cautious. Even the Dalai Lama has rejected a boycott of the Games.

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The idealism of the Olympics being above politics aside, there is a widely held consensus in the international community on the vital importance that the Beijing 2008 Olympics must be a success.

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