Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao accused supporters of the Dalai Lama on Tuesday of organizing violent clashes in Tibet in hopes of sabotaging the Beijing Olympics and bolstering their campaign for independence in the Himalayan territory.

The Dalai Lama urged his followers to remain peaceful, saying he would resign as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile if violence got out of control. But he also suggested China may have fomented unrest in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa and nearby provinces to discredit him.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reiterated her call for China to show restraint in fighting the protests and urged Beijing to find a way to work with the Dalai Lama.

European nations and Olympic committees said Monday they opposed a boycott of the Beijing Games over China's handling of the unrest.

Authorities paraded handcuffed Tibetan prisoners in Lhasa. A Times of London report said four trucks drove through the city, with 40 people, mostly young Tibetan men and women, standing in the back, their wrists handcuffed and a soldier behind each one holding the prisoner's head bowed.

Chinese soldiers were mobilizing across western China to deal with protests in Tibetan communities in Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces.

Officials expelled foreign reporters from Tibetan areas in Qinghai and Gansu provinces, contravening regulations that opened most of China to foreign media for the Olympics. Some of the few independent media remaining in Lhasa were ordered out.

Russia voiced support for China's government, saying it hoped "Chinese authorities will take all necessary measures to stop illegal actions and provide for the swiftest possible normalization of the situation."

Some residents reported Monday that Lhasa had quieted down and many people were returning to work. Chinese military police reportedly set up checkpoints to control movement.

"All across the city today there are checkpoints where you can only enter if you have a permit," said Marion Berjeret, an intern for a French fashion design company who has lived in Lhasa for four months.

She said foreigners have been moved to the outskirts of the city, where the situation was less tense.

Police were doing "door-to-door searches and just going in and ripping apart and looking for insurgents" as of Sunday, said Susan Wetmore, a Canadian who arrived by plane Monday in Chengdu in neighboring Sichuan province.