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News of Burma's Monks Protests and revolution

1. Great photos here: http://mmedwatch.blogspot.com/
2. YouTube Video of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's words in 2002 (in Burmese; Highly relevant and recommended): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coN5SR4J4AU&watch_response

Sept 27, 2007

1.   Photos show 'death' of Japanese man in Burma
2.   Telegraph:'Several dead' as Burma violence escalates
3.   Photographer killed in Burma protests
4.   China's crucial role in Burma crisis
5.   AP: Myanmar Soldiers Fire Weapons Into Crowd
6.   Myanmar forces raid monasteries, killing at least 1
7.   Bangkok Post: Burma military arrests monks in midnight raids
8.   Reuters: No outright condemnation from UN after soldiers kill monks in Burma
9.   BBC: Burma's saffron army
10. Russia warns against pressure on Myanmar


Photos show 'death' of Japanese man in Burma

By Matthew Moore
 
These extraordinary pictures from Rangoon, the Burmese capital, appear to show the death of a Japanese photographer during the regime's crackdown against pro-democracy protesters.

The first image shows a prone photographer - apparently injured - taking pictures of fleeing protesters as government troops approach.

A soldier stands over him, pointing a gun at his chest.

In the second image, apparently taken just moments later, the photographer lies flat on the floor, his mouth contorted in pain. The soldier has moved on.

The Japanese Embassy in Rangoon later announced it had been informed of the death of one of its citizens. Officials were heading to a hospital to confirm the report.

According to NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, the dead photographer had been hit by "stray bullets".

The military have fired into sections of the crowd in the city with semi-automatic weapons to disperse the demonstrations.

Troops who cleared the streets of central Rangoon told protesters they had 10 minutes to go home or be shot. Many who fled left their bloodied sandals behind.

At one monastery shots were fired in the air and tear gas was used against a crowd of about 1,500 supporters.

'Several dead' as Burma violence escalates

Exclusive report by Graeme Jenkins in Rangoon
 
Burmese troops today opened fire on pro-democracy protesters leaving several people dead, as the violent military clampdown escalates.

Photos show 'death' of Japanese man

Your view: What should the world do?

Richard Spencer: China's dilemma over Burma's protest

Reports that a Japanese photographer was one of those killed emerged after government troops warned protesters to leave the streets or face "extreme action".

Following the ultimatum, witnesses said dozens of protesters were wounded or beaten at several locations in the capital Rangoon.

The Japanese embassy was notified that a Japanese national - believed to have been a photographer - was killed in the clashes. It has sent its officials to a local hospital to confirm the report.

It is feared that the ruling junta may be deliberately targeting foreign journalists as part of a drive to keep news of the clampdown from reaching the outside world.

A British diplomat said at least four people "had been shot quite seriously" on Tarami Street in the city.

He also claimed there was evidence of "severe beating" of monks at the Ngwe Cha Yan monastery.

Large crowds had once again thronged the landmark Sule pagoda this morning, angered by a series of dawn raids on Rangoon's Buddhist monasteries.

But they were confronted by more than 200 troops who fired warning shots before marching from the pagoda shouting orders through loudspeakers.

"We will give 10 minutes," the troops shouted, according to reports. "If you fail to leave, we will take extreme action.

"Everyone on the roads and in the streets, everyone must leave immediately."

Most of the demonstrators scattered or were herded onto military trucks as troops blocked the streets beating batons against their shields.

The ultimatum came after Burmese ally China called on "all parties" to "exercise restraint... to ensure the situation does not escalate."

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman did not condemn the crackdown but said: "Burma's stability should not be affected, neither should peace and stability in the region."

	Shoes discarded by protesters after they were charged by troops

There were reports of shots being fired near Rangoon central railway station as well as in South Okkalapa, where tear gas was administered on crowds.

Protesters had congregated for a tenth day of action despite troops detaining around 200 monks and hundreds of their supporters this morning.

The raids targeted the most rebellious of the city's monasteries in a further attempt to quell unrest despite a worldwide diplomatic call for the state to show restraint.

Demonstrations turned ugly yesterday when police used violence to disperse thousands of monks and ordinary citizens marching together for democracy.

People in the crowd applauded when trucks carrying soldiers passed through and shouted "hero!" in mockery.

But men, women and children were sent scrambling for cover seconds later as troops responded with a long burst of automatic gunfire.

By the end of the day, two monks and a civilian were reported to have been killed and dozens injured by soldiers and armed police wielding batons and rifles.

One of the monks was beaten to death with rifle butts, witnesses said. The true death toll may be much higher.

Western leaders called for tough new sanctions on the regime to stop the bloodshed but with Burma's allies Russia and China able to veto any resolution by the United Nations Security Council, the chances of immediate action appear slim.

All day, gunfire crackled over Rangoon and tear gas hung over the city's holiest Buddhist sites. Despite the presence of soldiers outside the main monasteries, tens of thousands of monks and their supporters marched through the city. Tens of thousands more milled about on the crowded pavements offering tacit support.

Similar peaceful protests took place elsewhere in the country including Mandalay and Sittwe.

The Sule Pagoda in Rangoon, the scene of a massacre during similar demonstrations in 1988, was the main focus for yesterday's protests.

Soldiers armed with automatic weapons were lined up along the roads leading to the huge gold dome which sits at an intersection in the city centre. From a nearby rooftop long processions of protesters could be seen approaching from the north.

The red robes of the monks made a broad stripe down the middle of their mostly white-shirted supporters, walking at their side to offer symbolic protection against the bullets. Bystanders bowed down at the monks' feet.

The protesters passed under the noses of the soldiers guarding the pagoda.

A witness described how one monk stood alone in the open space before the troops and persuaded some followers to sit with him on the ground, in open contempt of the guns.

Others played cat and mouse, dashing from one side of the road to the other across the line of fire.

Later, another large group of protesters approached the pagoda from the south and advanced to within 30 yards of the soldiers.

No one here doubts that a massacre could happen at any moment. But in their anger, and their love for the monks, thousands of people have overcome all fear.

Earlier, men in police uniforms attempted to stifle the protest before it set off, as it has every day, from the Shwedagon Pagoda around noon.

As a column of monks appeared with flags, the security forces with their shields, batons and rifles moved in swiftly to set up a security cordon.

A group of women began wailing and praying. They were almost hysterical in their grief. They said they had seen two adolescent monks shot down just 20 yards away. All that could be seen at the spot were some red robes.

To the mounting distress of the women, the security forces seized a monk with a flag who was acting as a standard bearer and held him as a hostage to protect themselves from the angry crowd behind a flimsy barbed wire barricade.

Several more monks and supporters were bundled into trucks and driven away.

The women sought sanctuary inside a monastery but found that a group of soldiers appeared to have been billeted there overnight.

The men in their green overalls, standing alertly with their rifles in hand, had tears in their eyes too. Apparently they were also distressed by what had happened.

Outside, groups of monks and protesters stood beyond the security cordon singing their mantra: "We spread our love and kindness to everybody."

"Let us live and be without anger or violence," they sang on, and applause broke out.

The soldiers at the barricades levelled their rifles. Soon stones started to be thrown from the crowd at the security forces, who cocked their weapons and fixed their bayonets. Tear gas was fired and the crack of rifle fire rang out.

Like most of yesterday's shooting it appeared to have been directed into the air and the stand-off lasted for many hours. During a lull a man shouted at the troops: "We are all Buddhists! If you kill a monk you will suffer in hell!"

As loud thunder rolled around the cloudy sky, the protesters in the street and the young monks watching over the walls of their monasteries applauded.

There is no doubt that the people who braved the soldiers and their guns will be back on the streets today.

"We strive for our liberation," said one monk.

Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright

Photographer killed in Burma protests

September 27, 2007 - 9:08PM

This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/09/27/1190486478760.html

Myanmar Soldiers Fire Weapons Into Crowd

Thursday, September 27, 2007

(09-27) 05:18 PDT YANGON, Myanmar (AP) --

Soldiers fired automatic weapons into a crowd of anti-government protesters Thursday as tens of thousands defied the ruling military junta's crackdown with a 10th straight day of demonstrations.

A Japanese Foreign Ministry official told The Associated Press that several people, including a Japanese national, were found dead following Thursday's protests.

The information was transmitted by Myanmar's Foreign Ministry to the Japanese Embassy in Yangon, the official said on condition of anonymity citing protocol.

The chaos came a day after the government launched a crackdown in Yangon that it said killed at least one man. Dissidents outside Myanmar reported receiving news of up to eight deaths Wednesday.

Some reports said the dead included Buddhist monks, who are widely revered in Myanmar, and the emergence of such martyrs could stoke public anger against the regime and escalate the violence.

As part of the crackdown, monasteries were raided overnight by pro-junta forces in which monks were reportedly beaten and more than 100 were arrested.

The monks have spearheaded the largest challenge to the military junta in the isolated Southeast Asian nation since a failed uprising in 1988. In that crisis, soldiers shot into crowds of peaceful demonstrators, killing some 3,000 people.

Witnesses told the AP that five men were arrested and severely beaten Thursday after soldiers fired into a crowd near a bridge across the Pazundaung River on the east side of downtown Yangon.

Shots were fired after several thousand protesters on the west side of the river ignored orders to disband.

In other parts of the city, some protesters shouted "Give us freedom, give us freedom!" at soldiers. Thousands ran through the streets after warning shots were fired into crowds that had swollen to 70,000. Bloody sandals were left lying in the road.

As the stiffest challenge to the generals in two decades, the crisis that began Aug. 19 with protests of a fuel price increase has drawn increasing international pressure on the regime, especially from its chief economic and diplomatic ally, China.

"China hopes that all parties in Myanmar exercise restraint and properly handle the current issue so as to ensure the situation there does not escalate and get complicated," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Thursday at a twice-weekly media briefing.

European Union diplomats agreed to consider imposing more economic sanctions on Myanmar. Sanctions were first imposed in 1996 and include a ban on travel to Europe for top government officials, an assets freeze and a ban on arms sales to Myanmar.

The United States called on Myanmar's military leaders to open a dialogue with peaceful protesters and urged China to do what it can to prevent further bloodshed.

"We all need to agree on the fact that the Burmese government has got to stop thinking that this can be solved by police and military, and start thinking about the need for genuine reconciliation with the broad spectrum of political activists in the country," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill in Beijing.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was sending a special envoy to the region, urged the junta "to exercise utmost restraint toward the peaceful demonstrations taking place, as such action can only undermine the prospects for peace, prosperity and stability in Myanmar."

Myanmar's state-run newspaper blamed "saboteurs inside and outside the nation" for causing the protests in Yangon, and said the demonstrations were much smaller than the media are reporting.

"Saboteurs from inside and outside the nation and some foreign radio stations, who are jealous of national peace and development, have been making instigative acts through lies to cause internal instability and civil commotion," The New Light of Myanmar, which serves as a mouthpiece for the military government said Thursday.

Also Thursday, security forces arrested Myint Thein, the spokesman for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, family members said.

Several other monasteries that are considered hotbeds of the pro-democracy movement were raided by security forces before dawn in an apparent attempt to prevent the demonstrations spearheaded by the Buddhist clergy.

A monk at Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery pointed to bloodstains on the concrete floor and said a number of monks were beaten and at least 100 of its 150 monks taken away in vehicles. Shots were fired in the air during the chaotic raid, he said on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

"Soldiers slammed the monastery gate with the car, breaking the lock and forcing it into the monastery," the monk said. "They smashed the doors down, broke windows and furniture. When monks resisted, they shot at the monks and used tear gas and beat up the monks and dragged into trucks."

Empty bullet shells, broken doors, furniture and glass peppered the bloodstained, concrete floor of the monastery.

A female lay disciple said a number of monks also were arrested at the Moe Gaung monastery, which was being guarded by soldiers. Both monasteries are located in Yangon's northern suburbs.

Dramatic images of Wednesday's protests, many transmitted by dissidents using cell phones and the Internet, riveted world attention on the escalating faceoff between the military regime and its opponents.

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Jan Sliva in Brussels, Belgium, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this story.

There are now more ordinary people on the streets

Burmese soldiers have again fired shots as they attempt to disperse thousands of anti-government protesters in the main city, Rangoon.

Witnesses said it was not clear whether bullets were fired into the crowd or above their heads, but at least one person has reportedly been killed.

The military has been broadcasting warnings that the protesters should go home or face "serious action".

The fresh protests follow reports of overnight raids on six monasteries.

According to witnesses soldiers smashed windows and doors and beat the sleeping monks. Some escaped but hundreds of monks were taken away in military trucks.

Two members of the National League for Democracy, the party led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, were also arrested overnight.

Key flashpoints in Rangoon   Enlarge Image

Around midday, thousands of people poured onto the streets of Rangoon in an apparently spontaneous show of defiance. They began singing nationalist songs and hurling abuse at the soldiers driving by in trucks.

The soldiers responded with gunfire.

"They have shot several times into the crowd," one witness told the BBC. "One person was injured... they used tear gas... Now the injured person is carried off into a car to be taken to hospital... they [the soldiers] are using force on us."

There are fewer monks on the streets - since so many were arrested - and there are large numbers of ordinary people instead, reports the BBC's Chris Hogg in Bangkok.

The junta are using dirty tactics - they don't fire guns but beat people with rifle butts   BBC News website reader   Accounts from Burma Protests in pictures British money in Burma

It means the military may have fewer qualms about firing on the crowd, he reports. Monks are held in high esteem in Buddhist Burma.

The British embassy has told the BBC that four people were shot in the north of Rangoon. Four army vehicles were surrounded and the soldiers opened fire in response, the embassy said. Earlier reports said the victims had been killed, but the embassy later said their condition was not known.

The Japanese news agency Kyodo is reporting that the Burmese government has told Japan's embassy in Rangoon that a Japanese photographer has been killed.

A hotel in which foreign journalists have been staying in Rangoon has been surrounded and ransacked, our correspondent reports.

Security forces have set up barbed wire barricades around Shwedagon Pagoda and Rangoon city hall, two of the focal points for the demonstrations.

The British ambassador in Rangoon, Mark Canning, said soldiers and police had stepped up their presence.

"There are truckloads of troops in a number of locations - more than there seemed to be yesterday," he told the BBC.

"There are fire trucks, water cannons positioned in a number of places - there are about three of them outside city hall. There are a number of prison vans also to be seen in certain places."

Leaflets have been circulated throughout Rangoon urging people to come out and show solidarity with the monks.

On Wednesday, five people were reported to have been killed when police broke up protests. The military government has confirmed one death.

UN debate

There are no indications yet that the military government is ready to listen to the many calls for restraint being made around the world, says the BBC's South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head.

On Wednesday, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting in New York and called on the military junta to show restraint - a call also made by China on Thursday.

The US and the European Union wanted the council to consider imposing sanctions - but that was rejected by China as not "helpful".

China's crucial role in crisis Burma's shadowy leaders Burma's saffron army

Instead, Council members "expressed their concern vis-a-vis the situation, and have urged restraint, especially from the government of Myanmar," said France's UN ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert.

They welcomed a plan to send UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to the region, and called on the Burmese authorities to receive him "as soon as possible".

China and Russia have argued that the situation in Burma is a purely internal matter. Both vetoed a UN resolution critical of Burma's rulers in January.

Analysts fear a repeat of the violence in 1988, when troops opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing thousands.

The protests were triggered by the government's decision to double the price of fuel last month, hitting people hard in the impoverished nation.

Attacks on the monks by security forces have inflamed public anger

This year's session of the UN General Assembly has been overshadowed by the worsening political crisis in Burma.

It figured prominently in the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's opening speech.

US President George Bush announced a tightening of US economic sanctions and a ministerial meeting involving the Americans and the 27 European Union countries called for UN Security Council action.

An informal gathering of the Security Council ensued.

It heard a briefing on the crisis from Ban Ki-moon's special representative or envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, just before he left for the region, urgently despatched by the secretary general, in the hope that he can get into Burma and speak to all sides.

But apart from registering concern and displeasure it is hard to see what practical impact these steps will have.

Chinese influence

The US and the EU have long imposed a variety of sanctions against Burma's military regime but, paradoxically, this means that they have relatively few levers to pull to influence Rangoon.

The countries that matter more to Burma are India and Russia; both of whom have trading relations with the military regime.

Russia even plans to sell Burma a nuclear research reactor.

But it is Burma's biggest neighbour, China, that plays the most crucial role, and as a permanent member of the UN Security Council it can help to limit the relative isolation that the Rangoon regime faces.

China's UN ambassador said sanctions would not be helpful

Both China and Russia, for that matter, vetoed a UN Security Council resolution last January that was critical of Burma's rulers.

China has key strategic interests in the stability of Burma and accordingly strong ties with Rangoon.

This has prompted the Indian government to seek stronger ties of its own with Burma's military regime in order to counter-balance China's growing influence.

Energy resources

It is Burma's energy resources - oil and off-shore gas fields - that make it such an attractive partner for Russian, Chinese, Indian and even South Korean firms.

The scramble for Burma's energy resources make it almost impossible to isolate the regime.

Indeed, over time, as US and European ties to Burma have declined, those of China, Russia and India have increased.

China, then, is very much the key player; but Beijing faces conflicting pressures.

It has to match its energy and strategic interests - access to the Indian Ocean for example - with its desire for stability and its concern for its own reputation abroad, especially with the Beijing Olympics fast approaching.

Wednesday's informal Security Council meeting served in part to gauge the Beijing government's current position.

China's UN ambassador, Wang Guangya, reaffirmed China's predictable position that this crisis was not a threat to international peace and that sanctions would not be helpful.

Held accountable

Formal action is one thing. But might China's concern with regional stability encourage Beijing to whisper some tough words in the Burmese leadership's ear?

That is clearly what Western diplomats are hoping for.

In the short-term, sanctions may not have a great impact on Burma's rulers.

But efforts are underway to impress upon them that there could be long-term consequences if the crisis spirals out of control.

The British ambassador to the UN, John Sawers, echoing a comment from the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, issued a blunt warning to Burma's generals, noting, as he put it, that "the age of impunity is dead".

This is an explicit threat to the country's military rulers that they will ultimately be held accountable for their actions.

Myanmar forces raid monasteries, killing at least 1

Myanmar security forces raided two Buddhist monasteries Thursday, beating up and hauling away more than 70 monks after a day of violent confrontation with monk-led protesters that drew international appeals for restraint.

The security forces in the isolated Southeast Asian nation fired at protesters for the first time Wednesday in street protests that have brewed over the past month into the biggest rallies against Myanmar's military rulers since 1988. At least one man was killed and others wounded in chaotic clashes in Yangon.

The protesters, led by thousands of monks in cinnamon robes, have been demanding more democratic freedoms, the release of political activists and economic reforms in the impoverished nation.

Early Thursday, security forces arrested Myint Thein, the spokesman for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, family members said. An executive of her National League for Democracy, Hla Pe, was also arrested, according to exiled league member Ko Maung Maung.

An Asian diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press on Thursday that Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi remained at her Yangon residence where she has been detained for 12 years.

Rumors had circulated that she had been taken away to Yangon's notorious Insein prison.

The diplomat said that junta had deployed more security forces around Suu Kyi's house and on the road leading to her residential compound and that more than 100 soldiers were now inside the compound.

"The sign of increasing security forces make me confident that she is still there," the diplomat said. He said others told him that they had seen the diminutive opposition leader in her home Wednesday night.

The diplomat also said flyers were spreading around the nation's largest city of Yangon on Thursday, encouraging more civilians to join the protests.

Several monasteries that are considered hotbeds of the pro-democracy movement were raided by security forces before dawn in an apparent attempt to prevent the demonstrations spearheaded by the Buddhist clergy.

A monk at the Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery, pointing to bloodstains on the concrete floor, said a number of monks were beaten and at least 70 of its 150 monks taken away in vehicles. Shots were fired in the air during the chaotic raid, he said on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

A female lay disciple said a number of monks were also arrested at the Moe Gaung monastery which was being guarded by soldiers. Both monasteries are located in Yangon's northern suburbs.

Dramatic images of Wednesday's protests, many transmitted by dissidents using cell phones and the Internet, riveted world attention on the escalating faceoff between the military regime and its opponents.

The United States called on Myanmar's military leaders Thursday to open a dialogue with peaceful protesters in the reclusive Asian nation and urged China to do what it can to prevent further bloodshed.

"We all need to agree on the fact that the Burmese government has got to stop thinking that this can be solved by police and military, and start thinking about the need for genuine reconciliation with the broad spectrum of political activists in the country," said US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill in Beijing.

On Wednesday, protesters in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, pelted police with bottles and rocks. Onlookers helped monks escape arrest by bundling them into taxis and other vehicles and shouting "Go, go, go, run!"

The government said one man was killed when police opened fire during the ninth consecutive day of demonstrations, but dissidents outside Myanmar reported receiving news of up to eight deaths.

Some reports said the dead included monks, who are widely revered in Myanmar, and the emergence of such martyr figures could stoke public anger against the regime and escalate the violence.

As the stiffest challenge to the generals in two decades, the crisis that began Aug. 19 with protests over a fuel price hike has drawn increasing international pressure on the isolated regime.

The United States and the European Union issued a joint statement decrying the assault on peaceful demonstrators and calling on the junta to open talks with democracy activists, including Suu Kyi.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was sending a special envoy to the region, urged the junta "to exercise utmost restraint toward the peaceful demonstrations taking place, as such action can only undermine the prospects for peace, prosperity and stability in Myanmar."

Myanmar's government said security forces fired Wednesday when a crowd that included what it called "so-called monks" refused to disperse at the Sule Pagoda and tried to grab weapons from officers. It said police used "minimum force."

The junta statement said a 30-year-old man was killed by a police bullet. It said two men and a woman also were hurt when police fired, but did not specify their injuries.

Exiled Myanmar journalists and democracy activists released reports of higher death tolls, but the accounts could not be independently confirmed.

The protests are the biggest challenge to the junta since a failed 1988 democracy uprising. In that crisis, soldiers shot into crowds of peaceful demonstrators, killing some 3,000 people.

Burma military arrests monks in midnight raids
Yangon - Burma's military regime rounded up more than a hundred monks in raids of Yangon temples after midnight and stationed hundreds of troops at key sites in the former capital in preparation for more protests Thursday.

Informed sources said authorities raided several temples early Thursday morning and rounded up an unknown number of monks in an effort to prevent more protest marches on Thursday.

Barricades and troops were in place Thursday morning at key sites in Rangoon, including the Shwedagon and Sule pagodas and Bogyoke Street, the main rallying spots for the past nine days of monk-led protests in the city.

The military finally cracked down on the monks' barefoot rebellion on Wednesday, beating back monks and their laymen followers from the Shwedagon and Sule pagoda and firing warning shots at the crowds, numbering in the thousands.

The government has claimed that only one person died in the melee and two were injured. Other sources said as many as five died, including monks, and more than 100 were injured.

It was still unclear Thursday morning whether the monks would take to the streets for a tenth day. Past protests have started about noon, after the monks have taken food and started their midday fast.

There have been reports of similar monk-led protests taking place in other Burma cities such as Mandalay and Sittwe.

Burma's monks, said to number 400,000, have a long history of political activism. The monkhood played a pivotal role in Burma's independence struggle from Great Britain in 1947 and the anti-military demonstrations of 1988, that ended in bloodshed. (dpa)

No outright condemnation from UN after soldiers kill monks in Burma

THE UN Security Council last night pressed Burma's leaders to permit a special UN envoy to visit the south-east Asian country as they urged "utmost restraint" be shown towards peaceful protesters.

The divided 15-member body stopped short of issuing a formal statement of condemnation as the United States and European Union did earlier yesterday.

The US and the 27 member states of the EU want the council to consider sanctions and demanded that the junta open a dialogue with the jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic minorities.

China and Russia, which have friendly relations with the Burmese authorities, have so far blocked any UN sanctions.

Last night, China made its opposition clear. "We believe that sanctions are not helpful for the situation," Wang Guangya, its UN ambassador said after the emergency council meeting.

The council have proposed sending the UN under-secretary-general, Ibrahim Gambari, to Burma. Speaking after the meeting, France's ambassador, Jean- Maurice Ripert, this month's council president, said the council underlined "the importance that Mr Gambari be received in Burma as soon as possible".

Seething crowds of Buddhist monks and civilians filled the streets of Burma's main city of Rangoon yesterday, defying warning shots, tear gas and baton charges meant to quell the biggest anti-junta protests in 20 years. At least two monks and a civilian were killed, hospital and monastery sources said, as decades of pent-up frustration at 45 years of unbroken military rule produced the largest crowds yet during a month of protests.

Some witnesses estimated 100,000 people took to the streets despite fears of a repeat of the ruthless suppression of Burma's last major uprising in 1988, when soldiers opened fire, killing an estimated 3,000 people.

"They are marching down the streets, with the monks in the middle and ordinary people either side. They are shielding them, forming a human chain," one witness said over almost deafening roars of anger at security forces.

Other protesters carried flags emblazoned with the fighting peacock, a key symbol of the democracy movement in Burma. As darkness fell, however, people dispersed ahead of a dusk-to-dawn curfew. The streets were almost deserted.

The demonstrations started on 19 August after the government raised fuel prices in one of Asia's poorest countries. But they are based in deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the repressive military rule that has gripped the country since 1962.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador, said it was vital that Mr Gambari, who is flying to the region shortly, be admitted immediately. "It is very important that this be done on an urgent basis," Mr Khalilzad said. "It would not be good for Mr Gambari to visit grave sites after many more Burmese have been killed."

Voices from the frontline - the Burmese blogs

THERE are a lot of people in the emergency ward in the hospital and people are dying there. One witness told me that there were three monks that were brought in by a taxi driver and one of the monks died at the table.

Thian, Rangoon

AT ABOUT 10 o'clock the riot police blocked the road, but the monks pushed through the blockade and climbed the Shwedagon pagoda from the eastern side. After eating there, they came down in a line. At that point they were rounded up and charged with batons by the police. The monks responded merely by reciting prayers. People fled from the scene and it was mainly women who were targeted and beaten. The mob was dispersed and some people were arrested. Near the eastern stairway, tear gas was used to disperse the crowd. The monks - together with monks from Thingangyun - are said to march towards downtown. About 30 monks were badly hurt and hospitalised.

Anonymous eyewitness, Rangoon

ONE of the soldiers was shooting into the crowd near by the Sualae Pagoda. People can see that the solider is not a professional, because so many of his bullets went up into the sky, and also into the restaurant and a man was hit.

Ko-htike, Rangoon

I JUST talked to my sister, who lives in Rangoon. She knows someone at the local hospital in Rangoon. They have been treating three monks, who were taken to the hospital by taxi drivers. The monks had been beaten up with the back of rifles. One monk had a deep wound exposing his brain, and he has already died. The other two are being treated under intensive care. Many more people died today, but there is no information about it. Many taxi drivers who are at the site of the violence take injured monks to nearest hospitals. The junta are using dirty tactics - they don't fire guns, but beat people with the back of their rifles. The monks defiantly did not fight back, endured the pain and died.

Sanda, Stocksund, Sweden

POLICE were beating monks and nuns in Shwedagon Pagoda this morning and then putting them on to trucks. There were two prison vans and two fire engines. More army and police forces are in Kandawgyi park near Shwedagon Pagoda. People have been waiting at Sule Pagoda since early in the morning, and there are six army trucks near the City Hall, but I haven't seen any soldiers. The uniformed and plain-clothes police in front of the City Hall hold photos of monks leading the protests. We heard that over 50 monks and many students were arrested.

Cherry, Rangoon

ONE of the monks who took part in the protests came to us and told us about his experiences. He said: "We are not afraid, we haven't committed a crime, we just say prayers and take part in the protests. We haven't accepted money from onlookers although they offered us a lot. We just accept water. People clapped, smiled and cheered us." The monk seemed very happy, excited and proud. But I'm worried for them. They care for us and we pray for them not to get harmed.

Mya, Rangoon

NOW the military junta is reducing the internet connection bandwidth and we have to wait for a long time to see a page. Security forces block the route of demonstrations. Yesterday night, the junta announced to people in Rangoon and Mandalay not to leave their houses 9pm to 5am. I think the junta will cut off communication such as internet and telephone lines so that no information can be leaked to the outside world.

David, Rangoon

RIOT police and soldiers are beating monks and other protesters at the east gate of Shwedagon Pagoda. They are starting a crackdown by all means. Police forces are stationed at Sule Pagoda as well. Regardless of this, just after noon, about 1,000 monks from a nearby monastery started a march to the Shwedagon Pagoda.

Thila, Rangoon

BRUTAL REGIME LIVING A FANTASY IN THEIR MAKE-BELIEVE CAPITAL

MOST members of the Burmese junta are believed to be holed up in the country's new capital, Naypyidaw, 200 miles north of Rangoon.

The junta - headed by General Than Shwe - is made up mostly of unsophisticated former field commanders suspicious of the outside world, of each other and of well-educated Burmese like their pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The government has kept her under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years.

"They are extremely hunkered-down, delusional, paranoid and probably afraid at the moment about what could possibly happen," said David Mathieson, an expert on Burma with Human Rights Watch.

In November 2005 they relocated the capital to Naypyidaw, a city constructed specially for the purpose. The move appeared to be defensive - an effort to protect the junta from a hostile population and world.

"It is a fantasy land of male military vanity, the embodiment of their own delusions of grandeur," Mathieson said of the new capital. It is a wasteland of broad, empty avenues, monumental buildings, military installations and at least one golf course.

The junta heads a military establishment estimated to have more than 400,000 troops in uniform, and it holds to the tenet that only the military can bind the country together and develop its economy.

By Sarah Buckley BBC News

 

Sept: 26

Latest protest's photos posted here: http://www.moemaka.com/
BBC Videos of the protests: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7011884.stm

Daly Telegraph: Monks injured after beating from Burma troops
BBC: Burmese riot police attack monks
AP: Buddhist Monks Defy Assembly Ban
NY Times: Police Clash with Monks in Myanmar
Reuters: Myanmar troops fire shots to disperse crowds
Mercury News: Burma cops fire warning shots, fail to quell protest
Globe Wire Services: Soldiers arrest monks attempting to march at shrine
BBC: Chinese dilemma over Burma protests
AP: China Nudges Myanmar on Protests

 

Police wielding high-velocity rifles have been deploying in Rangoon

Several thousand Burmese monks and other protesters have begun new marches in Rangoon despite a bloody crackdown by police at the city's holiest shrine.

Police beat and arrested demonstrators at Shwedagon Pagoda and warning shots were fired at another site as a ninth day of marching got under way.

One march started for the city centre while another headed for the home of opposition head Aung San Suu Kyi.

Police and troops are surrounding key Buddhist sites around the city.

The riot police started to beat up the monks   unidentified monk speaking at Shwedagon Pagoda

Analysts fear a repeat of the violence in 1988, when troops opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing thousands.

In a further sign that the military authorities are cracking down, two key dissidents were arrested late on Tuesday night.

The atmosphere in Rangoon is described by witnesses as extremely tense, the BBC's Jonathan Head reports from Bangkok.

The mood among the crowds of bystanders is becoming very angry over the treatment of the monks, our South East Asia correspondent reports.

'Covered in blood'

Several thousand monks headed for central Rangoon, some of them wearing surgical masks in anticipation of the security forces using tear gas.

KEY PROTEST SITES 1. Shwedagon pagoda. Holiest site in Rangoon 2. Sule pagoda. Downtown focal point for marches

Defying a ban on all public gatherings of more than five people, they were cheered and applauded by thousands of bystanders.

Earlier, at Shwedagon Pagoda, riot police beat their shields with their batons and yelled at protesters before charging the crowd.

A number of the monks and nuns were left covered in blood and appeared to be seriously injured, and some shots were also heard, witnesses say.

"The riot police started to beat up the monks," one monk at Shwedagon Pagoda told the BBC.

"We were peacefully chanting prayers. They used tear gas and some monks were hit. Some monks were injured."

Demonstrators were dragged away in trucks as dozens were arrested.

At the Sule Pagoda, security forces fired shots over the heads of protesters as supporters of the monks there chanted "You are fools!"

Two of the country's most prominent dissidents, U Win Naing and popular comedian Zaganar, were arrested overnight.

'Different situation'

Aung Naing Oo, a former student leader in Burma who was involved in the 1988 uprising and who now lives in exile in the UK, believes the junta cannot stop the 2007 protesters.

"Nobody knew what was happening in 1988," he told the Today programme on BBC Radio Four.

"There was only very little information about the killings. Now with the internet and the whole world watching I think its a totally different story now and I think the other important difference is that in 1988 it was the students that were leading the demonstrations, but now it is the monks. Monks are highly revered in the country."

The junta broke its silence over the mounting protests late on Monday, saying it was ready to "take action".

US President George W Bush has announced a tightening of existing US economic sanctions against it.

America already has an arms ban on Burma, a ban on all exports, a ban on new investment and a ban on financial services.

The protests were triggered by the government's decision to double the price of fuel last month, hitting people hard in the impoverished nation.

Buddhist Monks Defy Assembly Ban

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

(09-26) 01:48 PDT YANGON, Myanmar (AP) --

Security forces fired warning shots and tear gas canisters while hauling Buddhist monks away in trucks Wednesday as they tried to stop anti-government demonstrations in defiance of a ban on assembly.

About 300 monks and activists were arrested across Yangon, according to an exile dissident group, and reporters saw a number of monks — who are highly revered in Myanmar — being dragged into trucks.

The junta had banned all public gatherings of more than five people and imposed a nighttime curfew following eight days of anti-government marches led by monks in Yangon and other areas of the country, including the biggest protests in nearly two decades.

A march toward the center of Yangon followed a tense confrontation at the city's famed Shwedagon Pagoda between the protesters and riot police who fired warning shots into the air, beat some monks and dragged others away into waiting trucks.

The latest developments could further alienate already isolated Myanmar from the international community and put pressure on China, Myanmar's top economic and diplomatic supporter, which is keen to burnish its international image before next year's Olympics in Beijing.

But if the junta backs down, it risks appearing weak and emboldening protesters, which could escalate the tension.

When faced with a similar crisis in 1988, the government harshly put down a student-led democracy uprising. Security forces fired into crowds of peaceful demonstrators and killed thousands, traumatizing the nation.

The potential for a violent crackdown already had aroused international concern, with pleas for the junta to deal peacefully with the situation coming from government and religious leaders worldwide. They included the Dalai Lama and South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, both Nobel Peace Prize laureates like detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

On Wednesday, about 5,000 monks and 5,000 students along with members of the party headed by detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi set off from Shwedagon to the Sule Pagoda in the heart of Myanmar's largest city but were blocked by military trucks along the route.

Other protesters at the Sule Pagoda were confronted by warning shots.

Some carried flags emblazoned with the fighting peacock, a key symbol of the democracy movement in Myanmar. The march proceeded quietly with protesters praying rather than chanting.

About 100 monks stayed behind at the eastern gate of the Shwedagon, refusing to obey orders to disperse after riot police there failed to dislodge them despite employing tear gas, batons and warning shots.

Witnesses said an angry mob at the pagoda burned two police motorcycles.

A branch of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy exiled in Thailand said the arrests in Yangon numbered 300, most of them in a western suburb of the city. The number could not be independently confirmed.

In Myanmar's second largest city of Mandalay, more than 100 soldiers armed with assault rifles deployed around the Mahamuni Paya Pagoda

"We are so afraid; the soldiers are ready to fire on civilians at any time," a man near the pagoda said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Authorities announced the ban on gatherings and a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew through loudspeakers on vehicles cruising the streets of Yangon and Mandalay Tuesday. The announcement said the measures would be in effect for 60 days.

Myanmar's imposition of new restrictions after a week of relative inaction by the military government throws down a challenge to its opponents, testing their mettle when faced with almost certain arrest.

It was not clear what the penalty for defying the curfew would be. But breaking the section of the law restricting gatherings carries a possible jail term of two years.

A comedian famed for his anti-government jibes became the first well-known activist rounded up after the curfew was imposed.

Zarganar, who uses only one name, was taken away from his home by authorities shortly after midnight, with family members saying authorities told them the 45-year-old had been "called in for temporary questioning."

Zarganar, along with actor Kyaw Thu and poet Aung Way, led a committee that provided food and other necessities to the Buddhist monks who have spearheaded the protests. He earlier had been imprisoned twice and his comedy routines were banned for their satirical jokes about the regime.

The fates of the actor and poet were not immediately known.

President Bush on Tuesday announced new U.S. sanctions against Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, accusing the military dictatorship of imposing "a 19-year reign of fear" that denies basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship.

"Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma," Bush said in an address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Bush said the U.S. would tighten economic sanctions on leaders of the regime and their financial backers, and impose an expanded visa ban on those responsible for human rights violations and their families.

The European Union also threatened to strengthen existing sanctions against the regime if it uses violence to put down the demonstrations.

The protests could bring increased scrutiny on China's close relations with Myanmar. China is the country's major trading partner and Chinese energy companies are investing in exploration of natural gas in Myanmar.

Myanmar has about 19 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, only about 0.3 percent of the world's total reserves, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy at the end of 2006. Although it doesn't currently export gas to China, its supply could potentially help feed a rapidly growing Chinese economy hungry for energy.

The current protests began Aug. 19 after the government hiked fuel prices in one of Asia's poorest countries. But they are based in deep-rooted dissatisfaction with the repressive military rule that has gripped the country since 1962.

The protests were faltering when the monks took the lead last week, assuming the role of a moral conscience they played in previous struggles against British colonialism and military dictators.

At least 35,000 Buddhist monks and sympathizers defied official warnings Tuesday and staged another anti-government march.

"The protest is not merely for the well-being of people but also for monks struggling for democracy and for people to have an opportunity to determine their own future," one monk told The Associated Press. "People do not tolerate the military government any longer." He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of official reprisals.

On Monday, a massive monk-led protest drew as many as 100,000 people in Yangon — the biggest street protest since the failed 1988 uprising.

The head of the country's official Buddhist organization, or Sangha, issued a directive Monday ordering monks to stick to learning and propagating the faith, saying young monks were being "compelled by a group of destructive elements within and without to break the law," the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

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