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Ten people reported dead as independence protesters challenge China's rule in Tibet, marking the fiercest protests in the region in two decades. China set a "surrender deadline", announced deaths and showed the first extensive television footage of rioting in Lhasa on Saturday (March 15), launching a crackdown after the worst unrest in Tibet for two decades. The response came after torrid protests on Friday which flew in the face of official claims the region was immune from unrest as Beijing readies to hold the Olympic Games in August. Xinhua news agency said 10 "innocent civilians" burnt to death in fires that accompanied bitter street clashes in the remote, mountain capital on Friday. It said no foreigners died but gave few other details, and the report could not be verified. Tibetan law-and-order departments offered leniency for participants who turn themselves in by Monday midnight. People were seen charging through the streets of Lhasa as they attacked Chinese owned shops and the Bank of China. Angry crowds in the remote mountain city attacked banks, burned vehicles and shops and threw stones at police in bloody confrontations that also left many injured, according to Chinese state media reports. China accused followers of the Dalai Lama of "masterminding" the uprising, which shatters its carefully-cultivated image of national harmony in the build-up to the Beijing Olympic Games. China has said that Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, engineered what were the biggest protests in disputed region since 1989 -- a claim he quickly denied. Beijing has already made it clear that it saw no reason to change its policies in Tibet, where many locals resent a growing Han Chinese presence, especially in Lhasa. Tibet's government chief on Saturday (March 15) denied that the capital Lhasa is under martial law, saying that the situation will ease. "The situation there will ease. We didn't fire any gunshots," Qiangba Pingcuo, government chief of Tibet told a crowd of journalists before heading into a plenum session of China' National People's Congress. People in Lhasa were braced for possible fresh clashes on Saturday after protesters challenged China's rule in the fiercest pro-independence rioting to have rocked the region in two decades. China's parliament, or the National People's Congress, entered a key day on Saturday as some 3,000 delegates gather to vote for the new state president and government for a new term. Tiananmen Square, China's political symbol where the Great Hall of People, housing the congress is located, is secured by large groups of policemen and soldiers who keeping a close eye on any events that could cause unrest the meeting. "I answered your question seriously. We are with the big family of the country. We are under the leadership of the communist party. We are developing together with all the 56 nationalities of the country towards prosperity," Luo Dan, a Tibetan delegate from Qinghai province told reporters in front of the Great Hall of the People. "I don't know the situation there clearly. These activities to undermine the society are conducted by domestic and overseas enemies. It's quite normal. I don't think there will be any problem," he added. "The Dalai Lama conducts separatist activities. As a monk, he has violated the commandments of Buddhism," said a monk delegate from Hunan province who didn't give his name. International human rights groups and Tibetan campaigners held protests recently, marking the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising by the Dalai Lama to oppose the communist rule in Tibet. As the Beijing Olympics draw near, the Chinese government is doing everything it can to curb social uncertainty.