The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Paris

The Dalai Lama arrived in France on Monday, a member of his entourage said, ahead of a high-profile 12-day visit during which the Tibetan spiritual guide will not meet President Nicolas Sarkozy.

He was welcomed by religious leaders at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport shortly around 6 am (0400 GMT) after arriving from New Delhi.

The visit officially kicks off on Tuesday with the inauguration of a Buddhist temple south of Paris.

The Dalai Lama, 73, will meet with French lawmakers, but instead of Sarkozy his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy will attend the inauguration of a temple in southern France on August 22. The rest of his stay will be devoted to religious visits, in the Paris region and elsewhere, and a six-day teaching cycle in the western city of Nantes.