KATHMANDU, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - At least 50 exiled Tibetans were detained in Nepal's capital on Tuesday near the Chinese embassy in ongoing protests against a crackdown by security forces in their homeland, police said.

'We have arrested around 50 protesters, of whom around 10 were monks,' a police officer at the scene said, asking not to be named.

The protesters were grabbed by police and dragged away before they reached the embassy gates, an AFP reporter at the scene said, adding that around 100 police were stationed at the site.

The protesters shouted 'respect Tibet's aspirations' and 'stop repression in Tibet' as they were hauled into police vans.

International human rights groups on Tuesday criticised police action to break up the protests, which have occurred daily in the Nepal capital since unrest flared in Lhasa three weeks ago.

Kathmandu should 'allow Tibetans to go about their daily lives and carry out peaceful protests without fear of arrests or threats of deportation,' Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in statements.

Nepalese officials have said they would not tolerate any pro-Tibet protests to ensure cordial relations with northern neighbour China.

The exiled Tibetan protesters are detained, then released later in the day, with many returning repeatedly to protest, AFP reporters have witnessed.

Located between regional giants India and China, Nepal is home to at least 20,000 Tibetans who began arriving in large numbers in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in their homeland.