London, Mar 23: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has been barred from entering South Africa to take part in a peace conference linked to the 2010 football World Cup, plunging the country into a diplomatic row.

The decision was met with outrage by fellow Nobel peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the former President F. W. de Klerk, who are organising the conference on March 27 with the Norwegian Nobel Peace Committee.

Archbishop Tutu urged the South African Government, which has close ties to China, to reconsider its “disgraceful” decision and threatened to boycott the meeting, planned to promote the first World Cup tournament to be held in Africa, The Times reported.

“If His Holiness’s visa is refused, then I won’t take part in the upcoming 2010 World Cup-related peace conference. I will condemn the Government’s behaviour as disgraceful, in line with our abysmal record at the UN Security Council, a total betrayal of our struggle history.”

“We are shamelessly succumbing to Chinese pressure. I feel deeply distressed and ashamed,” he said from California.

South Africa vetoed proposals for tougher sanctions against Zimbabwe and Burma when it occupied a non-permanent seat on the Security Council last year.

An invitation to the conference was also issued in the name of Nelson Mandela, another laureate. He has not yet reacted to the Government’s decision.

A senior presidential aide told The Times that the Dalai Lama’s presence in the country “would not be welcome as it would divert attention away from the World Cup” towards the Tibet issue.

Dave Steward, a spokesman for the F. W. de Klerk Foundation, said that the former President has expressed concern to the presidency and the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

South Africa is China’s main trading partner in Africa and accounts for more than 20 per cent of Beijing’s trade with the continent. (ANI)