"As far as I know, relevant departments of the Ministry of Justice have dealt with the case of Delek (the monk). I think, any country will mete out punishment according to law against criminals who jeopardised national security and engaged in terrorist bombings," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhang Qiyue said.

According to Chinese officials, Trulku Tenzin Delek, a 54-year-old religious figure from the Sichuan Province and his disciple Lobsang Dhondup, were responsible for five bomb blasts from January 2001 to April 2002, which caused one death and injured a dozen people in the southwest Chinese city of Chendgu.

While Delek was sentenced to death on December 2, 2002, with two years' suspension and deprivation of political rights for life, Dhondup was handed an immediate death penalty.

Earlier, international human rights groups had appealed to China to stop the death sentence against Delek and called for a fair trial.

However, there was no official word on the fate of Delek, who was scheduled to be executed Thursday.