DHAKA: Cape Town’s mayor has ‘suspended’ a planned summit of Nobel peace laureates, blaming the South African government’s ‘intransigence’ in refusing to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama.

South Africa has three times turned down a request to grant the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader a visa, as it tried to build closer ties with China.

A number of Nobel Peace Prize winners had tried to force the South African government to reverse its decision, by threatening to boycott the event, but they appear to have failed.

‘After extensive discussion and deliberation, it has been decided that the 2014 World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, planned for 13-15 October in Cape Town, will be suspended,’ the city authorities said in a statement on Thursday, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 2110 HRS, OCT 02, 2014