A commentary in the communist party's flagship People's Daily hailed a decisive victory in the nationwide battle against Falun Gong practitioners but warned support for the banned movement remained among stubborn elements.``The fight against Falun Gong is a long-term and arduous one. We should not relax efforts, otherwise the dying cinders would glow again,'' the commentary said.

The newspaper called the campaign to eliminate Falun Gong in China a ``major political issue that concerns the fate of the nation and the people as well as reform and the great cause of building socialist modernisation''. ``We should never lower our guard and become careless otherwise we might commit unforgivable historical mistakes,'' the commentary said.

Atleast six Falun Gong followers have died in police detention since August, the Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said on Friday. Four committed suicide to escape police persecution, one was beaten to death by police while another died during a hunger strike, the centre said.

More than 20 articles have been posted on the internet demanding China's communist leaders reverse their condemnation of Falun Gong. Two open letters called for German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to show concern over the detentions and torture of Falun Gong adherents during his three-day official visit to China this week. When asked to comment on the crackdown at a press briefing, Schroeder said, ``I am not an expert on sects''.

The People's Daily commentary pointed out the tragedy of followers willing to commit suicide out of loyalty to US-based Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi.

The English-language China Daily on Friday said it was necessary for Beijing to reveal Li's true nature, whichhe had managed to conceal during interviews with journalists in the US.

``The weapon of law must be fully applied in the fight against such evil cults as Falun Gong to win the final victory,'' the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday, quoting mainland jurists at a recent legal symposium.