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Cape Town - The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Cape Town has been cancelled after more laureates pulled out of the event to protest the government's refusal to grant the Dalai Lama a visa, according to reports.
The Cape Argus reported on Wednesday that sources confirmed the event, which was scheduled to have been held in Cape Town from 13 to 15 October, would no longer go ahead.
Friends of Tibet tweeted that the event had been cancelled "owing to denial of visa by host country" to the Dalai Lama.
The City of Cape Town was scheduled to make an official announcement on Thursday, the Argus reported.
The Hindustan Times reported that a new venue would be announced on Thursday after the conference was pulled from South Africa.
Jody Williams, the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner, said she was "proud" to say the protest by a number of female laureates had resulted in the summit being cancelled.
Iranian Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi told a media conference in India she was surprised that Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu had not spoken out against the South African government's move, AFP reported.
It was reported last week that six women Nobel laureates - Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi, American activist Jody Williams, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee, Yemeni journalist Tawakkol Karman, Northern Irish activist Mairead Maguire and a representative of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines - had cancelled their trip after the government refused to issue the Dalai Lama a visa.
According to the Hindustan Times, the summit was meant to have been held in Costa Rica eight years ago, but was also cancelled when the Chinese government put pressure on the government not to give the Dalai Lama a visa.
DA leader Helen Zille tweeted that the news was "tragic".
World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in South Africa, this month has been cancelled owing to denial of visa by host country to @DalaiLama.
— Friends of Tibet (@friendsoftibet) October 1, 2014Tragic. Feels like the apartheid boycott again. Wake up ANC! RT @IOL: Cape Nobel Peace summit canned http://t.co/67mbnjdXhK
— Helen Zille (@helenzille) October 1, 2014
