BEIJING - A Living Buddha residing abroad is to blame for a string of self-immolations among Tibetans in a prefecture in southwest China's Sichuan Province, a local official said Thursday in Beijing.

The Kirti Living Buddha Lobsang Tenzin Jigme Yeshe Gyatso masterminded and incited self-immolations in the Tibetan-Qiang autonomous prefecture of Aba in Sichuan to please the Dalai Lama and prevent himself from being marginalized, said Wu Zegang, head of the prefecture.

Wu made the remarks while attending a panel discussion among national lawmakers from Sichuan, who are in Beijing to attend the annual parliamentary session.

Multiple deadly self-immolations have occurred in the Tibetan-Qiang autonomous prefecture of Aba since 2012.

"These self-immolations were not related to religious or ethnic issues, but were politically motivated," said Zhang Dongsheng, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the 12th Sichuan Provincial People's Congress, the local legislature.