Dalai Lama says successor could be a woman

The next Dalai Lama could be a woman, it emerged yesterday.

Although there are female lamas, - or living Buddhas - men are predominant and it is rare for reincarnated lamas not to share the sex of their predecessors.

However, at the start of a 10-day visit to Italy, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th and current Dalai Lama, said: "If a woman reveals herself as more useful the lama could very well be reincarnated in this form." The comment follows his surprising remarks last week that he might choose his successor before his death, or even hold a referendum on whether he should be reborn at all.

Traditionally, the Dalai's successor is chosen by a committee of monks who find a young child born after his death, who is supposed to show a spark of the dead leader's spirit. The question of his succession is of increasing importance to the Dalai, who is 72.