We are now engaged in a fierce blood-and-fire battle with the Dalai clique, a life-and-death battle between us and the enemy," Tibet's Communist Party chief Zhang Qingli was quoted as saying by the state-run Tibetan Daily today.

Zhang called the Dalai Lama "a wolf in monk's robe, a devil with a human face but the heart of a beast."

UPDATE: The "Dalai clique" strikes in San Francisco?

A group of people threw an incendiary device at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco early today, authorities said.

No one was injured in the attack, which left a metal garage door charred, said Fire Department Lt. Mindy Talmadge. The main entrance to the consulate is at 1450 Laguna St., but the incendiary device was thrown at a back entrance on Geary Boulevard, Talmadge said.

Authorities got a call just after 4 a.m. from a person reporting that someone had thrown an object at the consulate, Talmadge said. Police Sgt. Steve Mannina said three or four people apparently had been involved in the attack, two of whom may have been acting as lookouts.