KATHMANDU, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - About 90 Tibetan exiles 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 now detained around 90 protesters,' Kathmandu police officer Basanta Rajouria told AFP.

Initially 50 protesters were grabbed by police and dragged away before they reached the embassy gates, an AFP reporter witnessed. 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.

Around half an hour later, another 40 Tibetan exiles managed to reach the entrance of the embassy compound before being detained.

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

Nepal 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 a joint statement.

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

Tibetan protesters are detained and then released later in the day, with many returning repeatedly to demonstrate, 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.