A law education work group is now in the Drepung Monastery in Lhasa to restore religious order after violence involving lamas ravaged the city last month.

Similar work groups have also been sent to some other monasteries, to help maintain social stability, socialist legal institutions, the public's fundamental interest and normal order of Buddhist activities, said a release of the Tibetan Autonomous Region government on Friday.

"Since March 10, some monks from a few monasteries continuously assembled to create disturbance. A few lawbreakers were engaged in assault, vandalism, looting and arson in some places, which seriously destroyed local social order and regular Buddhist ceremonies," the release said.

The government has sent the work groups to strengthen publicity and education about the country's legal system in the monasteries, and they have made smooth progress with their work there, it said.

The work groups have received the understanding and support of monks and religious followers as they stick to government policies toward ethnic minorities and religion while carrying out their work in accordance with the law, the release said.

The Drepung Monastery, located three kilometers northwest of Lhasa, is a typical lamasery of the Buddhist Gelukpa sect, or the Yellow Sect.

(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2008)