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Sat 09 Sep 2008Dalai Lama's brother was tenacious figure in fight for Tibet's independence
THUBTEN Jigme Norbu, who has died aged 86, was the eldest brother of the Dalai Lama and a tenacious symbol of the Tibetan struggle for independence. He was aged 87 according to Tibetan tradition which considers a person to be one year old at the moment of their birth.
A major Buddhist figure in his own right - he was believed to be the 23rd reincarnation of a famous high lama - Norbu had been in declining health after a series of strokes. He died of natural causes in Indiana, his home for four decades of exile.
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